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
It’s Been a Home for Decades, but Legal Only a Few Months
Conor Dougherty The New York Times (Paywall)On paper, the converted garage behind the Martinez family home in the Boyle Heights section of Los Angeles is a brand-new unit of housing, the product of statewide legislation that is encouraging homeowners to put small rental homes on their property and help California backfill its decades-old housing shortage. Two stories tall with 1,100 square feet of living space that is wrapped in a curved exterior wall, adorned with pops of pink around the windows and decorative white squares, it looms over the squat main house as a statement of something different behind a chain-link fence. The inside tells a longer story. For years the unit was illegal, built clandestinely in the mid-1990s by Bernardo and Tomasa Martinez as part of a $2,000 project that turned the garage into a cold but habitable unit with a bed and bathroom. The family rented it for $300 to a friend, then $500 to Bernardo Martinez’s brother, using the money to offset their mortgage and weather unemployment during the Great Recession.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/18/business/economy/california-h…
# International, Rent, Housing market, Landlords and agents, Planning and development.Inequality map reveals surprising dividing lines of Sydney’s ‘spatial’ wealth
Nigel Gladestone The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)A new way of mapping inequality reveals surprising divides between the haves and have-nots in Sydney, with some areas enjoying 10 times greater access to jobs, education and services.
The new analysis scores suburbs on their “spatial wealth” by comparing education options and jobs within a 30-minute-drive, as well as healthcare, social support and shopping access within a 15-minute walk. The most geographically advantaged neighbourhoods in Sydney have access to four times as many jobs, almost eight times the social support and ten times the education opportunities than the most disadvantaged areas. You will find a similar article entitled: 'Mapping shows the gaps between Melbourne’s haves and have-nots' at: [https://www.smh.com.au/national/mapping-shows-the-gaps-between-melbourne-s-haves-and-have-nots-20211218-p59iny.html]
https://www.smh.com.au/national/inequality-map-reveals-surprisin…
# Research alert NSW, Planning and development, Work, employment.How much longer can the renovation boom last?
Sue Williams Domain (No paywall)The COVID-19 renovation frenzy is set to continue throughout 2022 as property prices continue to climb and home owners decide to use some of their extra equity to finance improvements.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/how-much-longer-can-the-ren…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Home ownership, Housing market.House prices in Arizona are rising and that could be bad news for Australia's property market
Kathryn Diss ABC (No paywall)From the United States ... when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, [Phoenix, Arizona] became a refuge for those feeling captive in big cities. They didn't just travel there temporarily, they relocated long-term. As a result, house prices in the southern desert city have jumped an unprecedented 35 per cent in the year to June. ... There are a few factors at play, but the phenomenon that's shaking out in Phoenix isn't isolated. It's happening in markets across the globe, including Australia.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-12-19/house-prices-arizona-infl…
# International, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market, International.The regions where property listings have surged post-lockdown
Kate Burke Domain (No paywall)Australia’s two biggest property markets have ended the year with a sharp slowdown, as a post-lockdown surge in homes for sale gives buyers greater choice and eases the fear of missing out.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/the-regions-where-property-…
# Australia, Housing market.S.F. metro area retains No. 1 spot as most expensive place to live in the U.S. Here’s how costs compare to rest of the nation
Roland Li and Nami Sumida (Paywall)The San Francisco metro area was the nation’s most expensive place to live in 2020 for the sixth year in a row, and California was the third-most expensive state, according to federal data released Tuesday. Prices in the San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley metropolitan statistical area were 17.4% higher than the national average, with apartment rents 107.4% higher, though rental data incorporated the year 2019 instead of 2020 because the pandemic disrupted housing data surveys. The New York-Newark-Jersey City region was second at 15.5% more expensive than the national average, followed by Honolulu at 13.8% higher and the San Diego area at 13.4% above the average. The regional price rankings weigh rental housing, goods, utilities and other expenses against the national average. San Francisco Chronicle)
https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/San-Francisco-metro-…
# International, Rent, Housing market.Chaos for landlords as Purplebricks evictions rendered invalid
Melissa Lawford (Paywall)From the United Kingdom ... Landlord customers of beleaguered estate agent Purplebricks face more chaos and thousands of pounds in costs as hundreds of evictions running through the courts risk being dismissed. This comes after a systemic error by Purplebricks where it failed to properly serve documents to tenants regarding the government's deposit protection scheme. Failure to do so has meant landlords, and subsequently the estate agent, must pay up to three times the deposit as recompense. The Telegraph revealed the online estate agent's error this week and estimated the firm's liability at £30m. However, this newspaper has also learnt that any Section 21, or so-called “no-fault” eviction notice issued by a landlord using Purplebricks cannot pass through the courts. When a landlord serves a Section 21 notice, they must declare the tenant’s deposit has been properly registered. Therefore, notices served before Purplebricks' error came to light will have been made incorrectly. Thousands of Purplebricks tenants already evicted via Section 21 notices that were invalid can also claim back up to three times their deposit. This must also be paid for any time the lease was renewed and proper documentation was not served, meaning a renter who renewed twice could claim nine times their deposit as recompense. [Read on]
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/uk/chaos-landlords-purplebr…
# International, Eviction, Landlords and agents.Securing the city, making the city
Elara Shurety (No paywall)From the United Kingdom ... This article addresses the phenomenon of contemporary property guardianship, a type of building security by live-in occupants, who pay below-market rents, as a growing method of dispersed policing. (Radical Housing Journal)
https://radicalhousingjournal.org/2021/securing-the-city-making-…
# International, Rent, Housing market.