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
People in Luxembourg largely back tougher government housing policies
Lucrezia Reale Luxembourg Times (No paywall)More than half of residents in Luxembourg support stronger government action to tackle the country’s housing crisis, according to a survey published on Friday by the Housing Observatory. Drawing from a representative sample of households nationwide, the study - commissioned by the Housing Ministry in collaboration with the Luxembourg Institute of Socio-economic Research (Liser) - examined attitudes toward housing challenges such as affordability, access and market regulation, as well as views of respondents on how these issues are currently addressed by the state.
https://www.luxtimes.lu/luxembourg/people-in-luxembourg-largely-…
# International, Rent.Landlord argued he should not have to live in a ‘lesser property while renting out a superior one’
Jack White Irish Times (No paywall)A notice of termination issued by a landlord who argued he should not have to live in a “lesser property while renting out a superior one” has been deemed invalid by a Residential Tenancies Board tribunal. George Adegbite, who sought to terminate the tenancy, claiming he required the house for his family, said although he owned three other properties in Drogheda, Co Louth, the house in Termon Abbey was “the most expensive”. Mr Adegbite argued that he is entitled to choose where he wishes to reside. He said if his tenant, Sandra Otobore Itobore, had been living in one of his other rented properties, “he would have left her there”.
https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/housing-planning/2025/07/23/l…
# Hot topic International, Eviction, Rent.Wellington MP backs bold New York-style housing shake-up for capital
Harriet Laughton The Post (No paywall)Could Wellington take a leaf out of New York’s book when it comes to housing? Despite their obvious differences, Wellington and New York do have over-priced rentals of subpar quality in common. But rent controls that limit what landlords can charge and tenancy associations that give power to tenants are some of the New York housing policies that Wellington Central MP Tamatha Paul thinks could provide solutions. On a recent visit to the city, Paul found there were valuable lessons in the way New York was responding, including bold ideas by mayoral hopeful Zohran Mamdani.
https://www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/360766157/wellington-mp-backs-…
# Hot topic International, Rent.Why Jeff Speck is a “Zoning Abolitionist”
Christine McLaren Planetizen (No paywall)What are you thinking about these days in terms of walkability? What's top of mind for you? Jeff: I came into walkability as a framework not because I'm in love with walking. But rather, it became clear to me that walkability was the best measure of successful planning and more importantly, perhaps the best way to communicate good planning. Being more walkable is the equivalent of being more successful, more social, healthier, more economically resilient, more equitable — all the things that we understand come with getting people out of the car.
https://www.planetizen.com/features/135618-why-jeff-speck-zoning…
# Hot topic International, .Buyers of B.C. rental property not on the hook for $65K payment to evicted tenants: judge
Lisa Steacy CTV News (No paywall)A B.C. landlord who sold a rental property failed to convince a judge the buyers – who never moved into the home – should be on the hook for compensating wrongfully evicted tenants, according to a recent decision. Justice Anita Chan ruled on the dispute Friday, upholding a decision of B.C.’s Residential Tenancy Branch awarding $65,000 in compensation to the former renters. In 2022, Mohan Sull, the landlord, was renting the North Vancouver home to Thomas and Rozette Trevitt for $5,650 a month, the court heard.
https://www.ctvnews.ca/vancouver/article/buyers-of-bc-rental-pro…
# International, Eviction.Toronto tenants win fight over rental increase they argue was for redevelopment costs
Farrah Merali CBC (No paywall)Some tenants living in three Toronto rental buildings are claiming victory after the province's Landlord and Tenant Board ruled that environmental work done on the site in 2021 didn't meet the criteria for a full above-guideline rental increase, or AGI. The landlord had applied for the increase citing paving, roof and boiler replacement and something called "site remediation." The board's decision, issued in early July, found that the first two claims were valid, but that the last one did not qualify as a capital expenditure. That remediation work had accounted for nearly half the claimed expenses. "I was ecstatic," said Amy Nyp, of the decision. Nyp has lived in one of the buildings on Greentree Court in northwest Toronto since 2015. "The site remediation is where we were like, 'This doesn't make sense.'"
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-tenants-win-fight…
# International, .Actual Abundance w/ Isabella Weber, Malcolm Harris, Paul Williams
Isabella Weber, Malcolm Harris, and Paul Williams The Dig (No paywall)A debate and discussion of: the book; the discourse; the underlying economic and political questions of how we make the affordable housing, green energy, and fast trains we need; and how actual capitalist social relations appear to us in mystified form as “supply” and “demand.”
https://thedigradio.com/podcast/actual-abundance-w-isabella-webe…
# Audio International, .I’m 91 and have cancer but a London council let me live in a soaking, mouldy flat for a year
Anna Tims The Guardian (No paywall)I am a 91-year-old leaseholder in a block of flats owned by Wandsworth council. I’m living with saturated walls, dripping water and falling plaster because the council has failed to address a leak that began elsewhere in the block a year ago. When I first reported it, contractors made a large opening in my kitchen wall to inspect a service duct that contains plumbing for 10 flats. The hole has never been made good and is now crawling with insects.
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2025/jul/21/london-council-mou…
# Hot topic International, .