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
Charities warn bill doesn't protect renters enough
Harry Farley BBC (No paywall)Renters could still face demands for large upfront payments, charities are warning, despite a Labour election promise to cap the amount landlords can ask for in advance. The Renters’ Rights Bill, which bans Section 21 or "no fault" evictions, will be debated by MPs for the first time on Wednesday. But the bill does not mention Labour’s election promise to “end massive upfront payments” that landlords can demand.
# Hot topic International, Eviction.Family of deceased tenant refused entry to property containing life’s work
Anna Tims The Guardian (No paywall)The family of a social housing tenant who has recently died fear losing his life’s work because bureaucratic red tape has barred them from entering his flat. Glen Hutchinson, a performance poet, was found dead in his home in August but Cambridge city council has refused to allow his two daughters to access the property until they have been granted probate.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/oct/08/family-of-deceas…
# Hot topic International, Public and community housing, Rent.I escaped homelessness and then Lambeth council raised my rent by £470
Anna Tims The Guardian (No paywall)I have been homeless for two years, living in temporary accommodation supplied by Lambeth council. Finally last month my dreams came true; I successfully bid for a council flat. The rent was advertised at £121.64 a week and I duly signed the contract and paid the first week in advance. However, a week later, my online account showed I was in arrears. I rang the council, which told me there had been a mistake and my rent was actually £130.69 a week. For a disabled person on a very low income, an extra £470 a year is a lot of money.
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2024/sep/30/i-escaped-homeless…
# Must read International, Rent.Plan for nearly 10,000 homes in Canterbury delayed
Daniel Esson BBC (No paywall)Plans for almost 10,000 more homes in a Kent city have been pushed back by up to a year amid a government shakeup of house-building rules. Canterbury City Council (CCC) was originally planning to have its plan for housing up until 2040 finished by June 2025, but has pushed it back to spring 2026. In March, the local authority announced its plans to scrap the previous administration’s local plan.
# Hot topic International, .Outrage as bed in conservatory listed as 'studio' to rent for £1,200 per month
Susie Beever The Mirror (UK) (No paywall)A bed in a cheerless conservatory has prompted outrage after being listed as a £1,200-a-month studio flat - and it isn't even in London. Costing more than half the UK average monthly take-home pay, the underwhelming rental in a house divided into studios in Manchester city centre has sparked fury. Once a small summer room, the small portion of the terraced house has been converted into a three-room flat with a double bed, sofa, desk and a filing cabinet and appears to be falsely advertised as the "lowest room price".
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/outrage-bed-conservatory-l…
# Hot topic International, Rent.We want to keep our Oasis say residents
Coast Community News (No paywall)Residents of Oasis Caravan Park felt the love when the Central Coast Tenants Advice and Advocacy Service (CCTAAS) hosted a meeting outlining their options. The residents, including owners and renters in caravans and mobile homes, are fighting to keep their community together in the face of a redevelopment proposal to build 675 units across a series of high-rise buildings on the 5ha site at Kanwal. Some residents have been at the 60-year-old Oasis, now renamed Wyong Village, for decades. None of them want to leave. “Please don’t kick us out,” one resident said.
https://coastcommunitynews.com.au/central-coast/news/2024/08/we-…
# Must read, TUNSW in the media NSW, Land lease communities.https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/they-pay-200-a-week-rent-to-live-in-paddington-they-re-being-evicted-20241001-p5keua.html
Sue Williams The Sydney Morning Herald (No paywall)All the battlers living in a row of four rundown boarding houses in Sydney’s Paddington have been told they’re to be kicked out – despite a massive neighbourhood fight to stop their 32 homes being turned into four luxury houses. The owner-developer, who’s currently in the Land and Environment Court (LEC) appealing a ban on the conversion by the City of Sydney, irrespective of the court outcome, intends closing the boarding houses by the end of the year.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/they-pay-200-a-week-rent-to…
# Must read NSW, Boarders and lodgers, Rent.NCAT Evictions Map
Tenants' Union of NSW (No paywall)The Tenants' Union NCAT Evictions Map aims to provide transparency on the use of the NSW Civil & Administrative Tribunal (NCAT). This dashboard will be updated regularly to ensure the public has access to up to date information on the location and extent of evictions across NSW. This dashboards allows us to explore the LGAs where eviction applications are being made by private landlords as well as community, public and Aboriginal housing providers across NSW. The rates of eviction applications per 100 renters can be used to compare eviction rates across different regions and providers.
# Must read, Research alert NSW, Eviction, Tribunal NCAT.