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.
Our main email newsletter, Tenant News is sent once every two months. You can subscribe or update your subscription preferences for any of our email newsletters here.
See notes about the Digest and a list of other contributors here. Many thanks to those contributors for sharing links with us.
We love sharing the news and hope you find it informative! We're very happy to deliver it for free, but if you find it valuable, can you help cover the extra costs incurred by making a donation?
Archive
Inner West launches new drive to improve renters’ rights
Inner West Council Inner West Council (No paywall)Inner West Council has today launched a campaign for broad improvements to NSW tenancy laws in advance of the NSW election in March. The Council has partnered with advocacy organisations The Tenants' Union of NSW and the NSW Council of Social Service to propose a fairer system for renters who make up roughly half of the Inner West community.
https://www.innerwest.nsw.gov.au/about/news/media-releases/2023-…
# TUNSW in the media, New policy announcement NSW, Rent, Local Government, Strong communities, Sydney.58 Years After Martin Luther King Jr.’s Campaign to End Slums, a Look at Affordable Housing in Chicago
Erica Gunderson wttw (No paywall)[United States] When Martin Luther King Jr. came to Chicago in 1965, his mission was to end the slum housing conditions that many Black residents were forced to live in. For 17 months, he fought with boycotts, rallies and marches — a campaign that ultimately contributed to the passage of the Fair Housing Act in 1968, not long after his assassination. More than five decades later, however, housing advocates say Chicago still is struggling to provide adequate and affordable housing to all of its residents.
https://news.wttw.com/2023/01/14/58-years-after-martin-luther-ki…
# International, Housing affordability, Housing market.New Yorkers Never Came ‘Flooding Back.’ Why Did Rents Go Up So Much?
Lane Brown Curbed (No paywall)[United States] For a minute there, things looked grim for New York City landlords. The pandemic caused an exodus of such proportions that building owners were forced to cut rents to their lowest levels since the bad old days of 2011. But then a miracle happened. (Or at least one seemed to!) Not only did New York’s expats return; they came — in the eerily identical words of the real-estate industry and the credulous reporters who cover it — “flooding back.”
https://www.curbed.com/2023/01/nyc-real-estate-covid-more-apartm…
# Must read International, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing affordability, Housing market, Landlords and agents.No landlords, more community — why these residents say Calgary needs more housing co-ops
Karina Zapata CBC (No paywall)[Canada] In Calgary's tight and unpredictable rental market, living at Sunnyhill Housing Co-operative has been a saving grace for Philip Cox.
He first moved into the 66-unit townhouse in Calgary's neighbourhood of Sunnyside in 1987. At the time, he was looking for a sense of community; the affordable housing fees and security of tenure were a plus.
Now, 36 years and three children later, Cox says there's a "huge need" for more housing co-ops to be developed in Calgary — especially as waitlists continue to grow for the city's 13 existing ones.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/housing-co-ops-comeback-c…
# International, Co-operatives and resident-led housing, Planning and development, Strong communities.Towards a just transformation: climate crisis and the right to housing
Balakrishnan Rajagopal Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (No paywall)[United Nations] The report highlights that the climate crisis is severely threatening the enjoyment of the right to adequate housing around the world and that housing itself makes a significant contribution to climate change. It calls for a just transition towards rights-compliant, climate-resilient and carbon-neutral housing. The report argues that the costs of such a transition in the housing sector must be shared fairly among and within countries, and among public authorities, taxpayers, homeowners and renters or other affected groups, to ensure that nobody is left behind.
https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/thematic-reports/ahrc5228-tow…
# New policy announcement, Research alert International, Campaigns and law reform, Climate change, Human rights.FACT SHEET: Biden-Harris Administration Announces New Actions to Protect Renters and Promote Rental Affordability
White House Staff The White House (US) (No paywall)[United States] Today, the Biden-Harris Administration is announcing new actions to increase fairness in the rental market and further principles of fair housing. These actions align with a new Blueprint for a Renters Bill of Rights that the Administration is also releasing today. The Blueprint lays out a set of principles to drive action by the federal government, state and local partners, and the private sector to strengthen tenant protections and encourage rental affordability.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/202…
# New policy announcement International, Eviction, Campaigns and law reform, Housing affordability, Housing market, Human rights, Landlords and agents, No-grounds evictions.In this Sydney suburb, one in three homes is empty. It’s not just a data error
Angus Dalton, Billie Eder, Millie Muroi, Anthony Segaert and Angus Thomson The Sydney Morning Herald (No paywall)Barney Gardner watched as his once-bustling, working-class suburb of Millers Point was turned into extravagantly renovated townhouses and rows of empty holiday homes.
“Just about all of them are Airbnb because they were turned into one- bedrooms, and there are still quite a lot of empty properties that have been sold, and the people haven’t done anything with them,” Gardner said.
The harbourside enclave, which was once known for its social housing, has become the Sydney suburb with the highest proportion of unoccupied dwellings, with 34 per cent of its homes empty on the most recent census night.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/in-this-sydney-suburb-one-in…
# Must read NSW, Public and community housing, Housing affordability, Short-term holiday letting, Sydney.Rental crisis: Pensioner forced to move hours away from family, friends
Jorge Branco 9 News (No paywall)More than two hours from her children and just a few months into life in a new town, Karren Warren spent Christmas alone for the first time.
After 12 years in Merimbula on the NSW South Coast, the pensioner said she had no option but to pack up and leave when her beloved two-bed rental was sold in October, leaving her priced completely out of the market.
https://www.9news.com.au/national/rental-crisis-australia-pensio…
# Must read, TUNSW in the media NSW, Eviction, Rent, Campaigns and law reform, Housing affordability, Housing market, Long-term tenant, Personal stories, Regional NSW.