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
Labour vows landlord register to protect Generation Rent from rogue property owners
Mikey Smith The Mirror (UK) (No paywall)Labour would create a national register of landlords to protect ‘Generation Rent’ from unscrupulous property owners, Keir Starmer has told the Sunday Mirror.
The Labour leader said his party would stand behind a “talented generation” who are “left behind and forced to struggle” with skyrocketing rents imposed by rogue landlords.
The pledge came as hundreds of Sunday Mirror readers this week sent in questions for Mr Starmer and Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner - on topics as diverse as Brexit, food banks - and the cost of a weekly shop.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/labour-vows-landlord-regi…
# Hot topic, New policy announcement International, Campaigns and law reform, International, Landlords and agents.An idyllic California town, a celebrity landlord, and a rental from hell
Tatiana Walk-Morris Business Insider (No paywall)In 2021, Sonaar Luthra and Sarah Szalavitz decided to leave Los Angeles.
The couple found a rental home online for $4,000 a month in La Quinta, California, a palm-tree-dotted hamlet about 2½ hours away, nestled between the resort-haven Palm Springs and festival-famous Coachella.
The four-bedroom ranch was the ideal setting for Luthra, a climate consultant, and Szalavitz, a producer and AI-prompt engineer, to begin planning their wedding and make headway on professional projects. Szalavitz could finally dive into writing her book, and Luthra imagined turning a room with a peaceful view of the property's pool into his office. It was perfect for them.
https://www.businessinsider.com/coachella-valley-celebrity-landl…
# Hot topic International, Rent, International, Personal stories.Evictions in New York are soaring. It’s my job to stop the bleeding
Mallika Kaushal The Guardian (No paywall)Last fall I began representing a woman who came to court to try to get her apartment back after she had been evicted just a few days prior. She was elderly, disabled and living alone on a fixed income after the death of her husband. Our only option to restore her tenancy was to find a way to pay her ever-growing and insurmountable rental debt of over $40,000.
When we accepted this case, her prospects were bleak and no one believed that my office could get a positive result. The situation was difficult because once someone has been evicted, no defenses can be raised, and the money owed must be paid in full to retain the apartment – before the landlord rents it to someone else.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/apr/26/new-york-city-ev…
# Must read, Hot topic International, Eviction, International, Personal stories.Disabled woman from Pontefract 'could end up homeless' after no-fault eviction
Helen Steel itv News (No paywall)A disabled woman is facing the prospect of homelessness after her and her husband were served a so-called no-fault eviction.
Chris and Sandra Taylor, from Pontefract, claim their landlord refused to let them install stairlifts and ramps and then served them with a Section 21 notice asking them to leave.
Sandra's disability means she has been unable to leave the house for a year and she has been unable to go upstairs for six months.
https://www.itv.com/news/calendar/2023-04-24/disabled-woman-coul…
# Hot topic, Video International, Eviction, Disability, Homelessness.Political party calls for ban on property sales to foreigners in Spain
Staff The Local (Spain) (No paywall)For Compromís senator Carles Mulet, the main focus is to fight against so-called fondos buitre (vulture funds), hedge funds or private-equity funds that have bought up huge amounts of real estate in Spain and distorted the market. Black Stone is the most notorious, but there are hundreds more operating in the country.
It’s not the first time banning the sale of properties to foreigners has been suggested in Spanish political spheres as a means of addressing the country’s current housing crisis.
https://www.thelocal.es/20230503/political-party-calls-for-ban-o…
# Hot topic International, Campaigns and law reform, Housing market, International.Huge growth and ethical concerns make Airbnb users think again
Suzanne Bearne The Guardian (No paywall)With its burgeoning, vibrant arts scene, Margate was the perfect base for Dan Thompson, a writer and social activist. But when his landlord came to sell his flat, he was left with nowhere to move to, due to a shortage of properties in the area.
One reason, he believes, is that many of the homes are let as short-term rentals on Airbnb. Almost 640 entire homes are let out in the coastal town, according to rental analytics company AirDNA.
Now, when he travels, Thompson refuses to stay in Airbnb rentals that are not occupied by the owner of the property. “I realised I was being hypocritical – by staying in one, I was part of the problem.”
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2023/may/01/huge-growth-and-et…
# Hot topic International, Housing affordability, Housing market, Short-term holiday letting.Rents in the UK are rising at the highest rate for decades. Will they keep going up?
Liam Geraghty The Big Issue (UK) (No paywall)Rents in the UK are now at the highest rate on record.
Households are facing rising energy bills and food costs as part of the cost of living crisis but there is no respite when it comes to housing costs.
Tenants are feeling the pinch regardless whether they move or stay put, according to new data showing rent increases on property sites Zoopla and Rightmove, while the Office for National Statistics has also recorded steep increases to rents mid-tenancy.
https://www.bigissue.com/news/housing/rents-in-the-uk-are-rising…
# Hot topic International, Housing affordability, Housing market, International.Why Housing is a Basic Need
Cynthia Griffith Invisible People (No paywall)There is a fine line between homelessness and poverty, a line that is often blurred. In the United States of America, poverty gets measured by using a threshold.
According to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, “The Census Bureau determines poverty status by using an official poverty measure (OPM) that compares pre-tax cash income against a threshold set at three times the cost of a minimum food diet in 1963 and adjusted for family size.”
https://invisiblepeople.tv/why-housing-is-a-basic-need/amp/?s=31
# Hot topic International, Homelessness, Housing affordability, International.