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
No wave of properties being offloaded by investors
Tony Alexander (No paywall)From New Zealand ... There is no statistical evidence to back up the claim that a wave of investors are offloading their property [following tax changes announced by the government March 23]
https://www.oneroof.co.nz/news/tony-alexander-no-wave-of-propert…
# International, Rent, Housing market, Landlords and agents.Councils to be encouraged to convert empty buildings into homes as part of plans to save the high street
Lucie Heath Inside Housing (Paywall)From the United Kingdom ... The government is encouraging local authorities to use their powers to convert empty buildings into homes as part of its new strategy to revitalise the high street.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/councils-to-be-encoura…
# International, Housing market, Local Government.Is homelessness a property rights issue or a human rights issue? We have to decide
Frank Shyong (No paywall)From United States ... Everyone in Los Angeles seems to agree that homelessness is an emergency, and that consensus has existed for years. ... But I think there’s a major disagreement about what kind of problem homelessness actually is. ... But I think there’s a major disagreement about what kind of problem homelessness actually is.
For one group, the crisis is about the unchallenged misuse of public and private property. It’s a problem of wounded civic pride, lowered property values and dwindling tourism and investment dollars, with a seemingly easy solution: Just get homeless people out of our parks and off our sidewalks. For the other side, the crisis is one of people lacking homes and the maelstrom of medical, psychological and addiction problems that accompany a life on the streets. To them, the main problem is a rapacious, profit-maximized real estate market that generates evictions and homelessness faster than we can house homeless people. And a perfect solution to this problem doesn’t quite exist. (Los Angeles Times)
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-07-16/column-homel…
# International, Eviction, Homelessness, Housing market.Landlords Receive Federal Funds for Rental Assistance, Even When Tenants Live In Poor Conditions
Amanda Michelle Gomez (No paywall)From the United States ... Tenants at three D.C. properties have spent the past year fighting for rent relief and better housing conditions. While they’ve had some success, their fight isn’t over. Read their stories ...
https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/523476/landlords-receive…
# International, Repairs, Campaigns and law reform, Landlords and agents, Minimum habitability standards, Personal stories.NSW Government introduces a 60-day freeze on evictions
(No paywall)The New South Wales Government has announced a 60-day moratorium on evictions to support the state as it battles through extended COVID-19 lockdowns. (rent.com.au)
# Must read NSW, Eviction, Privacy and access, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19.Evicted without warning, again: As lockouts resume, tenants are left scrambling for homes
(No paywall)The Philadelphia Municipal Court resumed evictions this July, and some tenants could be locked out after not hearing from the court in months. Since March 2020, only a handful of tenants have been locked out of their homes in Philadelphia due to moratoriums spurred by the pandemic. That changed on July 1, when the Philadelphia Municipal Court gave a green light to the landlord-tenant officers, the private company that handles the final steps of the eviction process, to execute evictions. (The Inquirer)
https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/editorials/eviction-philadelphi…
# International, Eviction, Coronavirus COVID-19.Perth developer denies trying to ‘bypass’ planning process in bid to expand prime beach project
Peter de Kruijff The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Perth developer Adrian Fini has defended his company after accusations he is trying to “bypass” local government planning laws to build a new beachside development on a stunning piece of West Australian coastline near Yallingup.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/western-australia/perth-develope…
# Australia, Planning and development, Short-term holiday letting.House with no toilet sells for $2m as New Zealand property market soars
Eva Corbett The Guardian (No paywall)From New Zealand ... A decaying three-bedroom house with no toilet or bathroom, missing walls and an overgrown garden has sold in New Zealand for more than $2m (£1m), in the latest example of runaway property markets around the world.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/15/house-with-no-toil…
# International, Housing market.