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
How Philadelphia Kept Thousands of Tenants From Being Evicted
Aidan Gardiner The New York Times (No paywall)In early February, a piece of paper slipped through the mail slot in Ivy Handy’s door. She owed her landlord $2,184.75, it said, and if she didn’t pay, she would have to leave.
“It broke me,” Ms. Handy said. She knew what it could mean. When she was 19, she and her siblings were forced out of their home and into a homeless shelter for nine months. The thought of going through that again at age 53 filled her with dread.
Eviction notices are being served to a rising number of people in the United States now that moratoriums, which protected renters like Ms. Handy early in the pandemic, have ended and billions of federal dollars for rental assistance have stopped flowing.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/13/headway/philadelphia-tenants-…
# Hot topic International, Eviction, Campaigns and law reform, International.NY Lawmaker Uses AI to Write Housing Bill That Does Little to Help Renters
Kyle Barr Gizmodo (USA) (No paywall)Can AI research and write a piece of legislation? Sure, though not well. Should AI be used to write a piece of legislation on a subject impacting millions of beleaguered renters in the most-populated city in the U.S.? No, definitely not.
That didn’t stop one New York legislator from trying it out, then putting a limp, ineffective piece of legislation on the docket. As first noted by City&State earlier this week, Assemblyman Clyde Vanel-sponsored Bill 6896 would require landlords to provide renters a copy of their lease agreement upon request. It’s a small, though worthy case for New York City renters who are so often screwed by the byzantine operations of both corporate and individual lessors.
https://gizmodo.com/clyde-vanel-ai-housing-bill-new-york-autogpt…
# Hot topic International, Campaigns and law reform, Housing affordability, International.Should LA make AC mandatory for all rental units?
Steve Chiotakis KCRW (USA) (No paywall)In the midst of a heat wave, cranking up the AC can be a much-needed source of refuge. But for many renters in Los Angeles, that isn’t possible — because their apartments don’t have air conditioners installed.
Unlike heating units for the winter, landlords are not required to provide cooling mechanisms for tenants. But as climate change makes dangerously hot weather common, some local officials are questioning whether air conditioning transformed from a luxury to a necessity.
In June, Los Angeles City Council asked city staff to study the costs and feasibility of requiring landlords to make AC mandatory in all rental units.
“We know that this issue is affecting renters across the state, across the world, and increasingly so,” says Sasha Harndon, senior public policy advocate at Inner City Law Center. “There's been some great reporting in the last couple of years that has shined a light on the level and number of heat-related illnesses and deaths that are occurring in California. And it's extremely alarming.”
https://www.kcrw.com/news/shows/greater-la/immigration-heat/ac-m…
# Hot topic International, Campaigns and law reform, Fixtures - lights, aircon etc, International.Minimum-wage workers' struggle to afford rent getting worse in Canada: report
Naimul Karim Financial Post (No paywall)It’s getting more difficult for minimum-wage workers to afford a one-bedroom rental in most parts of Canada, according to a new report, which urges governments to introduce stricter rent control policies across the country instead of just focusing on building more houses.
The report by Ottawa-based think tank Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives says minimum-wage workers can afford one-bedroom rentals in only three out of the 37 census metropolitan areas (CMAs) it looked at. Compared to 2018, things have gotten even less affordable for many.
https://financialpost.com/news/economy/minimum-wage-workers-stru…
# Hot topic International, Rent, Housing affordability, International.Couch surfing and sleeping in vans: New Zealand’s housing crisis grips Queenstown
Serena Solomon The Guardian (No paywall)When Merlin Traçable finishes work at a ski rental shop in Queenstown, New Zealand, he looks for a place to park his van.
Traçable, a 26-year-old from France on a working holiday, won’t be pulling up near his home. He doesn’t have a house, just a van, a winter sleeping bag and a blanket – currently Traçable’s only antidotes to temperatures that dipped to -4C a few nights ago.
“It is like a little joke between us,” he says of the dozens of other people he says sleep in their cars and vans in the high-end resort town that graces most of New Zealand’s tourism brochures. “We are the homeless people of Queenstown.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/08/new-zealand-housin…
# Must read, Hot topic International, Rent, Housing affordability, International.These tenants fought one of America's largest corporate landlords — and scored some wins
Gretchen Morgenson NBC News (USA) (No paywall)MINNEAPOLIS — A group of North Minneapolis tenants has won rent freezes, refunds and other concessions from their private-equity-backed landlord, showing that protests, pickets and organizing can gain results even against a powerful corporate giant.
The group, United Renters for Justice, is battling Progress Residential, the largest provider of single-family homes for rent in the U.S. The private-equity-backed Progress and its affiliated companies have purchased almost 90,000 properties across the country in recent years, focusing on fast-growing metropolitan areas, including Austin, Texas; Denver; Salt Lake City; and Tampa, Florida, its website shows. Progress, which also acts as a property manager, is backed by Pretium Partners, a private-equity firm overseen by Don Mullen, a former Goldman Sachs executive.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/tenants-fought-one-americas…
# Hot topic International, Rent, Housing affordability, International.Another Year, Another Rent Hike: It’s Time to Reform the NYC Rent Guidelines Board
Staff The Good Men Project (USA) (No paywall)Last week, the New York City Rent Guidelines Board raised rents by 3% for one-year leases and roughly 4.5% for two-year leases for 1 million rent-stabilized apartments. Meanwhile, the Nassau County, Westchester County, Rockland County, and Kingston Rent Guidelines Boards approved either rent freezes or much smaller increases. What gives?
Part of the answer is that there are unique features to the New York City Rent Guidelines Board structure that need to be rethought.
Every April through June, the New York City Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) spends three months deciding if, and by how much, rents will go up for 2 million New Yorkers. This decision-making process is punctuated by the publication of eight (dry, data-driven) reports and at least four (boisterous) public hearings.
https://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/another-year-another…
# Hot topic International, Rent, Housing affordability, International.Rent in this California city exceeded San Francisco’s for the first time. Here’s how much it costs per month
Summer Lin Los Angeles Times (No paywall)For the first time, San Diego has surpassed San Francisco for average rental rates, making the All-American City the nation’s third most expensive rental market, according to a Zillow report.
San Diego’s typical monthly rental rate in June was $3,175, exceeding San Francisco’s rent of $3,168. The rates represent a significant jump since February when San Francisco’s rents were 29% higher than San Diego’s, according to the online real estate site Zillow.
Still, San Diego and San Francisco rents were not the highest.
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-07-11/rent-in-this…
# Hot topic International, Rent, Housing affordability, International.