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
Housing: Shelter calls for 90,000 social homes to be built
Doug Faulkner BBC (No paywall)Housing charity Shelter has called on the government to build 90,000 good-quality social homes a year. It commissioned a survey which suggested that around a third of adults do not have safe or secure homes, based on criteria including whether the accommodation had enough bedrooms, was mouldy or structurally unsound.
Shelter calls it a "housing emergency".
Will housing for rough sleepers be a legacy of the COVID-19 pandemic?
AHURI (No paywall)AHURI Brief: International Housing Policy Exchange focuses on helping people who are homeless find housing or shelter during the pandemic
https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/ahuri-briefs/will-housing-for-…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Homelessness, International.Spike in renters seeking help as eviction ban ends: Citizens Advice
Leah Miller (No paywall)From the United Kingdom ... Citizens Advice has reported a surge in enquiries in the first four months of this year ahead of the end of the eviction ban in England on Monday. The charity says that the housing advice pages of its website have been viewed more than 2m times between January and the end of April. Its data show a 36% increase in the number of people seeking help on matters relating to their privately-rented homes from 23,400 between January and April 2020 to 31,700 in the corresponding period this year. Enquiries about evictions from private-rented accommodation have also jumped by 17% over the same timefame. ... Citizens Advice chief executive Dame Clare Moriarty says: “Next week, the sticking plaster applied to the English private rented sector during the pandemic will be ripped off. Ending the eviction ban puts thousands of renters at risk of losing their home. The government should put in place a system of grants and government-backed loans for renters in England who are still financially struggling because of Covid-19. The lack of security renters in England will face from Monday is a symptom of a longer term problem where tenants can be evicted without cause. The government has committed to ending no-fault evictions and it’s vital this is urgently enshrined in law in their forthcoming reforms to the private rented sector." (Mortgage Strategy)
https://www.mortgagestrategy.co.uk/news/spike-in-renters-seeking…
# International, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19, No-grounds evictions.A safe place to call home: Ending unfair evictions & reforming renting
(No paywall)Everyone has the right to a secure and decent home. For too many of England’s 11 million private renters, this basic right is out of reach. In the two years since the Government pledged to end Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions, the world has been turned on its head. The pandemic highlighted the insecurity built into the private rented sector, and the poor and overcrowded conditions that many have experienced for years. Reform of the private rented sector is evidently long overdue, and the Government’s upcoming White Paper provides an opportunity to transform our housing system and deliver lasting change. Generation Rent has long called for an end to Section 21, but this paper is an opportunity to go further. This report sets out our vision for a private rented sector which provides a stable home for everyone who relies on it. (Generation Rent)
https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/npto/pages/7534/attachment…
# International, Eviction, Rent, Home, No-grounds evictions.Tenants in England fear losing homes after eviction ban ends, says Shelter
The Guardian (No paywall)From the United KIngdom ... Many private tenants across England are worried about losing their home, according to Shelter, after a ban on bailiff-enforced rental sector evictions in England ends on 31 May. A survey by Shelter found 22% of tenants in England are worried they will be asked to leave their current home at short notice. Four in 10 said their experience of finding and trying to keep a home makes them worry about finding another home in the future.
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2021/may/29/tenants-in-england…
# International, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19.Insecure housing and overcrowding risk children’s health. But we’ve found a way to help
Matthew Ankers and Yvonne Parry The Conversation (No paywall)More than 19,000 Australian children were recorded homeless on census night in 2016. That’s about one in six of the nation’s homeless population. Many more children live in insecure housing, overcrowded spaces with a lack of privacy or security, or have to move often between accommodation, making it difficult to establish a routine.
https://theconversation.com/insecure-housing-and-overcrowding-ri…
# Australia, Health, Homelessness, Young people.A gripping depiction of family ties shines spotlight on hoarding
Giselle Nguyen The Sydney Morning Herald (Paywall)Here's a second review of Emily Mcguire's sixth novel, Love Objects. The tiara is a portal into a life long past. This woman, Nic, is a hoarder. Her home is filled with many such objects, all with fascinating stories to tell. ... The topic of hoarding is particularly interesting. The disorder has only recently been recognised as a mental health condition, affecting about 400,000 Australians. Maguire, who conducted research for the novel, is compassionate and non-judgmental in her depiction of Nic and her belongings: we are given a look into the tender and nostalgic mind of someone whose unusual habits reveal deep affection and care for her family, friends and even strangers.
https://www.smh.com.au/culture/books/an-empathetic-study-of-ment…
# NSW, Health.A year ago Adelaide's homeless were housed. Now, some are back on the streets amid an overhaul of the sector
Patrick Martin ABC (No paywall)The old grandstand in Victoria Park on Adelaide's leafy eastern fringe was once the home of South Australian horse racing. At the moment, it's home to people like Colin. The 41-year-old father has been homeless for three years, but said it wasn't always like this. "I have lived a good life, just like everyone else. I used to judge [homeless people]. I had a car and everything else and if I could have it all back now I would," he said. [Read on ...]
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-30/covid-19-saw-homeless-peo…
# Australia, Coronavirus COVID-19, Homelessness.