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
EU to propose short-term rental rules to tackle ‘social crisis’ in housing
Jennifer Rankin The Guardian (No paywall)The EU executive will propose rules to tackle the “huge problem” of short-term rentals via platforms such as Airbnb and Booking.com, as it seeks to confront the “social crisis” of people struggling to afford a home, its first-ever housing commissioner has said. In an interview with the Guardian and other European newspapers, Dan Jørgensen said it was time for Brussels policymakers to take housing seriously or cede ground to anti-EU populists, who, he said, did not have the answers to the shortage of affordable homes.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/oct/15/eu-executive-short…
# International, .Here’s All the Government Handouts Landlords Get
Rivkah Brown Novara Media (No paywall)Landlords – they really get a raw deal, don’t they? That’s certainly what the landlord lobby would have you think. From being forced “to house millions more pets” to not being allowed to simply text tenants to inform them that their rent is going up, there are few people as mugged off as the humble private “housing provider”. Adding insult to injury, two weeks ago, a leak from the Treasury suggested that chancellor Rachel Reeves is considering forcing landlords to pay national insurance on their rental income in the autumn budget, bringing them unjustly in line with the rest of the population that actually works for a living.
https://novaramedia.com/2025/09/10/heres-all-the-government-hand…
# International, .Renters face new limits on houseplants amid growing disputes
Gian T Seniors Discount Club (No paywall)Many Australian seniors know the joy of nurturing a garden, but what happens when life circumstances move you into a rental property? For one British tenant named Miguel, his love of indoor greenery sparked an extraordinary battle with his landlord that's got the internet both laughing and taking sides. The exchange reads like a masterclass in tenant defiance, but it also raises serious questions about what rights renters have when it comes to making their house feel like home. The drama began when property owner Janet sent Miguel an email expressing 'serious concern' about his houseplant collection.
https://seniorsdiscountclub.com.au/threads/renters-face-new-limi…
# International, .Foreclosures are surging as U.S. homeowners grapple with rising costs
Mary Cunningham CBS News (No paywall)Kimberly Draxler was in shock when she called her mortgage lender in April and was told her four-bedroom home in Hillview, Kentucky, would be sold out from under her in a matter of days. Though she had been alerted that something might be wrong by a letter in the mail from an attorney offering assistance in warding off foreclosure, she said her lender never informed her that she was about to lose her home.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/housing-market-foreclosure-increasi…
# International, .Scottish parliament votes in favour of allowing councils to cap rent increases
Libby Brooks The Guardian (No paywall)The Scottish parliament has voted overwhelmingly for “historic” long-term rent controls – a first across the UK – as part of a wide-ranging housing bill that campaigners argue has been “gutted” of its most progressive measures. The provision for ministers to designate rent control zones, allowing councils to limit rent increases to one percentage point above inflation, up to a maximum rent increase of 6%, was hailed as a “historic step for fixing the rigged housing market” by the Scottish Greens.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/oct/01/scottish-parliam…
# International, Rent.Abolishing stamp duty won’t solve Britain’s housing crisis – but this radical property tax just might
Josh Ryan-Collins The Guardian (No paywall)The UK’s property tax system is both inefficient and unfair. There is consensus among all political parties that something needs to be done. On the efficiency side, stamp duty is the main culprit: as a lump sum tax on property wealth paid at point of purchase, it discourages people to move as frequently as they should. It prevents people from realising their full economic potential by finding the right job, in the right area, or moving into a home suitable for their household size.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/commentisfree/2025/oct/15/st…
# International, .NSW is desperate for more houses – but is it driving development towards wealthy parts of Sydney?
Anne Davies The Guardian (No paywall)Wealthy Sydney areas, including the eastern suburbs and the north shore, are expected to experience a building boom of mid and high-rise units, thanks to the New South Wales government’s transport-oriented development (Tod) zones. But developers say the policy could lead to a slowdown in development in other, less affluent, parts of Sydney, as companies chase higher returns from more expensive apartments. Of course, more apartments – anywhere – are generally welcomed. But will the Minns government’s plans benefit first home buyers struggling to enter the market?
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/oct/11/nsw-is-de…
# NSW, .No demolition in a Housing Crisis: Glebe Residents call for Refurb of 35-Year Old Estate
Inner Sydney Voice (No paywall)A coalition of residents, neighbours, architects, local groups and housing advocates has gathered at 82 Wentworth Park Road in Glebe to protest the imminent demolition of what they describe as “a perfectly liveable, 35-year-old estate.” In 2022, the former Liberal Government began relocating tenants ahead of a proposed redevelopment. In mid-2023, residents and advocates occupied the estate for several days, drawing attention to the loss of public housing and prompting NSW Housing Minister Rose Jackson to tweet that the site would remain “100% public housing, owned and managed by government.”
https://innersydneyvoice.org.au/articles/82-wentworth-park-road-…
# History NSW, .