Housing News Digest
Housing News Digest
The Tenants' Union Housing News Digest compiles our pick of items from all the latest tenancy and housing media, sent once per week, on Thursdays.
Below is the Digest archive from November 2020 onwards. From time to time you will find additional items in the archive that did not make it into the weekly Digest email. Earlier archives are here, where you can also find additional digests by other organisations.
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Archive
Where landlords are amassing up to $56k extra rental income a year
Nila Sweeney Australian Financial Review (Paywall)Residential landlords in some inner-city and middle ring suburbs pocketed up to $56,000 extra rental income in the past 12 months as rents hit record highs across the major capital cities, data from SQM Research shows. Louis Christopher, SQM Research managing director, said rents would likely keep rising strongly across the country this year as vacancies fall further.
https://www.afr.com/property/residential/where-landlords-are-ama…
# Hot topic NSW, Rent.Tax on Airbnb, Stayz accommodation could boost NSW housing supply
Alexandra Smith The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The NSW government says a tax on short-stay accommodation including Airbnb and Stayz could encourage owners to shift their homes to long-term rentals, easing the housing shortage and raising revenue for homelessness services. The revenue measure is touted in a new government discussion paper on the short-term rental market, which Premier Chris Minns has vowed to review amid the worsening housing crisis.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/tax-on-airbnb-stayz-accommod…
# Legal significance NSW, .A loophole got New York City man a free hotel stay for five years until he claimed to own the building
By The Associated Press NBC News (USA) (No paywall)NEW YORK — For five years, a New York City man managed to live rent-free in a landmark Manhattan hotel by exploiting an obscure local housing law. But prosecutors this week said Mickey Barreto went too far when he filed paperwork claiming ownership of the entire New Yorker Hotel building — and tried to charge another tenant rent. On Wednesday, he was arrested and charged with filing false property records. But Barreto, 48, says he was surprised when police showed up at his boyfriend’s apartment with guns and bullet-proof shields. As far as he is concerned, it should be a civil case, not a criminal one. “I said ’Oh, I thought you were doing something for Valentine’s Day to spice up the relationship until I saw the female officers,’” Barreto recalled telling his boyfriend.
# Must read International, .California Just Passed the First State Social Housing Legislation in the US
Richard Marcantonio Jacobin (No paywall)Earlier this month, California passed a bill requiring the state to produce a study and recommendations on expanding the state’s social housing sector. Organizers hope it will be the first step in providing de-commodified shelter on a large scale. On October 7, California governor Gavin Newsom signed into law Senate Bill 555, the Stable Affordable Housing Act of 2023. The legislation commits the state of California to producing a study on the prospects for creating “a robust sector of social housing that offers below-market rents affordable to households of all income levels who are unable to afford market rents and that is permanently shielded from the speculative market.”
https://jacobin.com/2023/10/california-social-housing-legislatio…
# Legal significance International, Public and community housing.'The least affordable housing market in recent memory': Why now is a great time to rent
Daniel de Visé USA Today (No paywall)United States of America: Generations of consumers have embraced homeownership as part of the American dream. Lately, though, it looks more like a pipe dream. “Housing is becoming a luxury good,” said Christopher Mayer, a Columbia University economist. The upside? It’s a great time to rent. The spiraling costs of homeownership have turned the perennial rent-vs.-own equation on its head. In most of the nation’s largest cities, renting is now far cheaper.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2024/02/16/housing-market-f…
# Hot topic International, .Where it’s cheaper to live in an island resort than rent in Auckland
Thomas Bywater NZ Herald (No paywall)The fact that living on an island resort might be the cheaper option to renting in New Zealand will only support feelings of many rent-payers in Auckland and Wellington. According to Tenancy Services NZ, the median weekly rent in Tamaki Makaurau rose by $40 to $650 last year. In Wellington the median rent floated around $605, up 34 per cent over the last decade.
This is either incredibly depressing news or, for some travel-loving individuals, an opportunity.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/where-its-cheaper-to-live-in-a…
# Hot topic International, Rent.At a CT co-op, unique model keeps housing affordable
Ginny Monk CT Mirror (No paywall)Connecticut: Sonjia Gomes had just given birth to her daughter when she saw a news story about a house fire on the television screen in her hospital room. When the footage featured a shot of smoke engulfing the building, Gomes realized it was her house. On that day, more than 30 years ago, she and her infant became homeless. But after about nine months of staying in temporary homes, Gomes found refuge in a townhouse-style unit in a development that had just opened, after seeing an advertisement about the affordable housing option.
https://ctmirror.org/2024/01/04/waterbury-ct-affordable-housing-…
# Must read International, Public and community housing, Rent.The Curmudgeon of Rivington Street
Ronda Kaysen The New York Times (Paywall)As his apartment on the Lower East Side crumbled, a former Club Kid resented the moneyed millennials who filled his building. Then he let them in on a secret that transformed their lives.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/30/realestate/rivington-street-l…
# Hot topic International, Rent.