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
Renters are struggling more than homeowners in America’s tough housing market, report says
Bryan Mena CNN News (No paywall)Washington - Homeowners in America aren’t the only ones struggling with an unaffordable housing market. Renters are also bearing the brunt. A report from Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies released last week showed that both homeowners and renters in recent years have become increasingly burdened by climbing housing costs. The report, based on an analysis of existing data, said that nearly one in four households that own a home “are now stretched worryingly thin.” The cost burdens are even worse for renters.
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/06/23/business/stocks-week-ahead-am…
# Hot topic International, Rent.Buying vs. renting in Canada's home market: housing panel
Bloomberg (No paywall)Ron Butler, mortgage broker at Butler Mortgage, Bob Dugan, chief economist at Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Lauren Haw, broker of record and industry relations officer at Zoocasa, join BNN Bloomberg to discuss real estate.
# Video International, Rent.Biden housing plan seeks to curb rent increases by penalizing landlords
Rachel Leingang The Guardian (No paywall)President Joe Biden wants to curb rent increases by penalizing landlords who hike rents beyond 5% each year, but he needs the help of Congress to put the plan into action. The Biden administration will announce the idea in Nevada on Tuesday along with a host of other housing-related policies, including an influx of funds to add more housing in Nevada and elsewhere and a plan to use public federal lands for affordable housing near Las Vegas.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jul/16/biden-re…
# Hot topic International, Rent.The secret social housing scandal: when your parent dies – and you are evicted in days
Kwajo Tweneboa The Guardian (No paywall)In 2022 I was contacted by a friend of a friend – let’s call her Tiana – who was distraught. Her mum had become sick a few months earlier, so Tiana, who was her mum’s only child, had moved out of her own house and into her mum’s flat in south London, to care for her. Then, in March 2022, her mum died suddenly. Before Tiana even had the chance to arrange her funeral, she received an eviction notice from the council, giving her only a few days to move out. Her mum had lived there for 20 years. Tiana asked them for a two-week extension on compassionate grounds, to give her time to sort through her mum’s stuff and figure out where she was going to live. They wouldn’t give it to her.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/jul/16/th…
# Must read International, Discrimination, Eviction, Rent.Have poor and troubled Paris suburbs won Olympic gold?
Adelaide Now (No paywall)Less than 500 metres separate the Stade de France -- the sparkling centrepiece of the Paris Olympics -- and the crumbling Francs-Moisins estate plagued by poverty and crime. Samia Achoui, a secretary who lives in one of the grey blocks dogged by drug dealing, does not have a ticket to see the Games. Instead she will listen from her window to the cheers and applause echoing over the canal. The densely populated working-class department north of Paris hosts four of the Games' big venues, the athletes' village and other key Olympic sites.
https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/breaking-news/have-poor-and-…
# Hot topic International, .‘Non-profit status’ promises new hope for German affordable housing
Charles Kingston Refire (No paywall)The German federal government has made a significant move by reviving the instrument of non-profit housing, a scheme that was buried 24 years ago. This decision, part of the Annual Tax Act passed by the Federal Cabinet last week, aims to address the chronic shortage of affordable housing in Germany. The reintroduction of non-profit housing, also known as “residential non-profit status,” or Wohngemeinnützigkeit, promises to offer substantial benefits to investors, housing companies, and tenants alike. REFIRE has featured a number of articles in recent months showcasing opportunities for investors to gain access to qualifying schemes, and we're keeping a close eye on developments in the sector.
https://www.refire-online.com/api/amp/markets/non-profit-status-…
# Hot topic International, Rent.Corporate landlords' actions affect tenants' health, report says
Albinson Linares NBC News (USA) (No paywall)Miriam de Santiago says she worries about the rent on her home every day, doing the math to make sure she can meet her obligations without compromising the health of her son, who has epilepsy. “Epilepsy medication costs between $780 and $1,000 [a month], and we have to have it at home and at school. With the rent increases, I have to decide which medicine to request first, see which one is more urgent and find a balance,” De Santiago said in an interview. Her family has lived with her two teenage children in the Boulder Meadows Mobile Home Park community in Boulder, Colorado, for 16 years.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/corporate-landlords-affect-t…
# Must read International, Rent.Hong Kong leader John Lee tells young people not to ‘deliberately’ depress income to be eligible for public housing
James Lee Hong Kong Free Press (No paywall)Hong Kong’s leader has called on young people not to waste “potential and opportunities” by “deliberately” depressing their income below the limit allowed to apply for public housing. Speaking to reporters ahead of his weekly Executive Council meeting on Tuesday, Chief Executive John Lee said he had heard of some people ensuring that their earnings remained below the monthly income limit in an effort to be allocated a government-subsidised unit. According to the Housing Authority, the income limit for single applicants is HK$12,940 per month, or HK$19,730 for a two-person family. The average waiting time for public housing was 5.7 years, as of March.
https://hongkongfp.com/2024/07/16/hong-kong-leader-john-lee-tell…
# Hot topic International, Public and community housing, Rent.