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
St. Paul, Minneapolis poised to enact first rent control policies in Midwest
Max Nesterak (No paywall)From the United States ... St. Paul will be the first city in the Midwest to enact rent control after voters easily passed one of the most stringent policies in the country on Tuesday. Across the river, voters cleared the way for Minneapolis to follow suit by approving a ballot measure that authorizes the City Council to draft a rent control ordinance. ... The ordinance in St. Paul caps annual rent increases at 3% per year and is unique in applying to all rental properties across the city, regardless of size or age of the building.
https://minnesotareformer.com/2021/11/02/st-paul-minneapolis-poi…
# Hot topic International, Rent, Housing market.SF Had Low Evictions Before COVID, and Even Lower During. Let’s Talk About What Comes After
Max Harrison-Caldwell (Paywall)Early last year when the coronavirus struck, tens of thousands of San Franciscans, like so many others across the globe, suddenly couldn’t pay rent. City leaders made sure that state and federal safety nets had plenty of backup; pretty much everyone agreed that no one should lose their home in a pandemic. But the virus is receding (we hope) in fits and starts, and those emergency protections are starting to recede as well. On Oct. 1, California lifted its pandemic moratorium on non-payment evictions. (The Frisc)
https://thefrisc.com/sf-had-low-evictions-before-covid-and-even-…
# History International, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Landlords and agents.Accessories to an Eviction
Fernando Marti (No paywall)Yolanda counseled me, “This is your life. This is your art. Use it.” Yolanda lived as a renter all her life, facing eviction (twice?) on San Jose Avenue, a few blocks from my own house. As artists, Yolanda Lopez and Rene Yañez made their evictions public for all those who couldn’t speak, who couldn’t share their stories, putting themselves out there, creating art out of an eviction yard sale: “Accessories to an Eviction.” (Just Seeds)
# International, Eviction, Personal stories.Record household debt raises fears interest rate rise could lead to recession
Shane Wright The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)The huge level of debt taken on by home buyers through the COVID pandemic will stop the Reserve Bank from driving up interest rates with experts warning even a small lift in borrowing costs could drive the country back into recession.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/record-household-debt-ra…
# Australia, Home ownership, Housing market.FEANTSA Flash October 2021
(No paywall)Read about European developments in housing and homelessness, hot topics this month, with Spain drafting an ambitious new housing bill and Denmark launching a new homelessness initiative. Read on to learn more about these and other developments relating to homelessness in Europe. (international Union of Tenants)
# International, Public and community housing, Rent, Campaigns and law reform, Homelessness.November interest rate announcement: RBA resists mounting pressure to raise rates early
Sue Williams Domain (No paywall)The Reserve Bank of Australia has resisted mounting pressure to push up interest rates much earlier than its planned 2024 hike, and instead kept the magic figure at its record low 0.10 per cent for the 12th month running. The RBA decision on Tuesday to keep the rate steady came even though all four big banks have hiked their longer-term fixed-rate mortgage products, and as overseas central banks move closer to raising official interest rates.
https://www.domain.com.au/money-markets/november-interest-rate-a…
# Australia, Housing market.“Invisible, Forgotten”: Sean Lee became homeless after waiting for 17 years of public housing
(No paywall)A man who has been waiting for public housing for 17 years says he has recently become homeless and feels “invisible, forgotten” by the waiting process sleeping in his car. Sean Lee was put on the waiting list for housing when he was working as a trainee nurse in 2004, earning less than $ 300 a week. He said he was told he was looking at a three to five year wait. However, Lee is still waiting for the Lake Macquarie home to become available. He is currently traveling between emergency accommodation and his car ... (Newcastle Herald | Sydney News Today)
https://sydneynewstoday.com/invisible-forgotten-sean-lee-became-…
# NSW, Public and community housing, Disability, Homelessness.Housing is the foundation for healthy people and communities. California needs a fundamentally new approach to keep people safely housed.
Madeline Howard (No paywall)COVID-19 has been with us for nearly two years, and in California we’ve gone through a dizzying rollercoaster of eviction protections, ranging from robust – the Judicial Council’s emergency order stopping all but emergency evictions, to nonsensical – the March 2020 executive order billed as an eviction moratorium that had little actual effect. Tenants and advocates have been tirelessly demanding simpler, more robust eviction protections that will last until the state distributes billions in rental assistance funds to eligible tenants and landlords. These demands were ignored, and evictions are now rolling forward while tenants continue to wait for the funds to be distributed. At the same time, the number of Californians experiencing homelessness continues to rise. This continually evolving crisis also highlights the ways evictions are another form of racialized violence that harm communities of color much more than others; in particular, Black people are disproportionately likely to be evicted and experience homelessness. (Western Center on law and poverty)
https://wclp.org/housing-is-the-foundation-for-healthy-people-co…
# International, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, Housing market, Race and ethnicity.