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
RealPage goes from setting rent to collecting it
Emma Roth The Verge (No paywall)RealPage, the algorithmic rent-setting software company, has announced plans to acquire Livble, a service that lets people pay their monthly rent in installments. Livble describes itself as a “flexible” rent payment solution. Renters can split payments into up to four installments throughout the month. The service bills itself as helping tenants “avoid late fees and credit card fees” as well as “build credit through rent,” but it charges $30 to $40 per loan. RealPage didn’t disclose the terms of the deal.
https://www.theverge.com/news/710036/realpage-livble-acquisition…
# International, Rent.Fears as rent rises and 'not a shoebox' to live in
Federica Bedendo and Hannah Mitchell BBC (No paywall)A tenant living in a tourist hotspot said he was left in shock when his landlord told him his rent would rise by 40%. Tim Greaves lives in a one bedroom flat on Compston Road in Ambleside, Cumbria, and this week he received an email from lettings agent Matthews Benjamin notifying him of a £225 monthly rise. He claimed others living in the flat-block had also been hit with rises and were concerned about their options, saying: "There's nowhere to move, not a shoebox - nothing." Matthews Benjamin said it had invited tenants to contact them with any concerns and that it would discuss its findings with the landlords before any further steps were taken.
# International, Rent.Rental fraud: the Facebook and Gumtree scam targeting desperate tenants
Zahra Onsori The Guardian (No paywall)You’re desperately hunting for somewhere to live and scouring rental sites. The odds are stacked against you. Rents are high everywhere – in London tenants are paying almost £1,000 for a shoe cupboard with a bed – and living rooms have gone from a regular commodity to a luxury. But matters are made worse by scammers. Young people now account for three-quarters of rental fraud, according to data from the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB). Last year alone almost £9m was lost across about 5,000 reported cases.
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2025/jul/20/rental-fraud-faceb…
# Hot topic International, Starting a tenancy.What the world can learn from Uruguay as the global housing crisis deepens
Jennifer Duyne Barenstein and Daniela Sanjinés The Conversation (No paywall)More than 1.8 billion people lack access to adequate and affordable housing. Yet too few countries have taken meaningful steps to ensure dignified housing for their most vulnerable citizens. We research how cooperative housing can serve as one solution to the affordable housing crisis. There are a variety of cooperative housing models. But they generally involve residents collectively owning and managing their apartment complexes, sharing responsibilities, costs and decision-making through a democratic process. Some countries have embraced cooperatives. In Zurich, Switzerland, almost one-fifth of the city’s total housing stock is cooperative housing.
https://theconversation.com/what-the-world-can-learn-from-urugua…
# International, Public and community housing, Rent.Can you afford to live here? Europe’s cities ranked by rent-to-salary ratio
Servet Yanatma Yahoo News (No paywall)Housing takes up a large part of household budgets, and this share is growing across Europe, according to Eurostat. High rent prices in city centres add extra pressure, especially for low-income earners and those on minimum wage. In some European countries and cities, rent can consume nearly an entire salary. In fact, in certain places, average net salaries are not enough to cover the rent for a one-bedroom apartment in the city centre, according to Deutsche Bank Research Institute.
https://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/afford-live-europe-cities-rank…
# Hot topic International, Rent.Rental deposit scheme in UK ‘puts millions in the pockets of landlords’
Jessica Murray The Guardian (No paywall)The official deposit scheme for renters is “putting millions in unscrupulous landlords’ pockets”, campaigners have said. Almost half (46%) of renters said they did not know they could challenge deposit deductions they deemed to be unfair. Only 4% have used the formal dispute resolution process to try to reclaim the money. Dan Wilson Craw of Generation Rent, the campaign group which conducted the research, said the system was “failing renters who are put off from challenging unfair deductions by unclear rules, and threats and delaying tactics from landlords”.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/jul/20/rental-deposit-s…
# Hot topic International, Bond.The rise of the YIMBY movement
ABC (No paywall)Have you heard of the YIMBY movement? It stands for "Yes, In My Backyard", a counter to anti-development movements. But what role can YIMBYs play in solving Australia's housing crisis?
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/lifematters/the-rise-of-t…
# Audio Australia, .GOOD CAUSE EVICTION POLICIES DON’T HAMPER CONSTRUCTION, NEW RESEARCH SHOWS. LEGISLATORS ARE STILL CONCERNED.
Aaron Fernando Shelter Force (No paywall)In its most broad definition—though states and localities include their own exemptions and criteria—good cause eviction policies guarantee ongoing lease renewal to tenants from their landlords, unless tenants have violated the terms of their leases or behaved unlawfully. A number of states and localities have active good cause legislation. New Jersey, for example, has had a policy on the books since 1974. Other states have passed policies more recently, like California’s Tenant Protection Act of 2019. Last year, New York State passed a version of good cause. The law was mandatory in New York City, but other municipalities could opt in (with some tailoring available).
https://shelterforce.org/2025/06/06/good-cause-eviction-policies…
# Hot topic International, Eviction.