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
Financial hardship and economic vulnerability in England
Inclusion Centre (No paywall)We were pleased to see our financial vulnerability dashboard we developed for the Local Government Association (LGA) referenced in this new government guide on health and well being. It provides an overview of financial hardship and economic vulnerability at local authority area. It has been designed for viewing at local authority geographies. Users can select individual councils at the top of the report and compare it on a range of criteria against different peer groups – for example, within a city or across England.
https://inclusioncentre.co.uk/our-work/financial-hardship-and-ec…
# International, .Only 2.5% of private rentals in England affordable on housing benefit, study finds
Jessica Murray The Guardian (No paywall)Only 2.5% of private rented homes in England were affordable for people on housing benefit last year, with charities warning that more people will be pushed into rent arrears and homelessness as a freeze on the benefit takes effect. From Tuesday, housing benefit rates will be locked at current rates until 2026, affecting 5.7m households on low income which rely on it to cover rent. Research from the homelessness charity Crisis and the campaign group Health Equals found fewer than three in every 100 private rental properties listed in England were affordable for people on housing benefit between April and October 2024.
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2025/apr/01/private-renting-en…
# Must read International, .Americans' Average Rent Just Got More Expensive
News Week (No paywall)The U.S. median asking rent climbed by 0.4 percent in February compared to a year earlier to reach $1,607—the first increase in six months and the biggest in nine, according to a new report by Redfin. Compared to January, the median asking rent in the U.S. was up 0.6 percent last month. While it is a very modest growth, experts warned that landlords may be raising prices as apartment construction slows down across the country—a trend that is likely to hurt renters should it continue. The country is in a housing affordability crisis that is impacting both homeowners and renters. Rents spiked during the pandemic, when a record half of all U.S. renters were cost burdened, according to a study from the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. In 2022, 22.4 million renter households spent more than 30 percent of their income on rent and utilities—2 million more than three years earlier.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&ur…
# International, .Tenants fighting rent increases
CTV News ()The TAL rental board can’t keep up with the number of tenants fighting rent increases.
# Video International, .Renting in Canada Roundup: Time for a national rent freeze?
Steve Tustin Rentals for Newcomers (No paywall)Does Canada need a national rent price freeze? Could you be a "forever" housesitter? Are you one of the Canadian renters getting a significant inheritance? As always, we've got the answers for domestic, newcomer and international student renters in this week's Renting in Canada roundup. Here's our look at what's making news in Canada's Trump tariff-anxious rental market. First, kudos to Sudbury resident Lasse Borgos. He's been house-sitting for over three years, which has made renting more affordable. Despite planning to move to a more permanent home in May, he sees the practice as a viable housing solution. Faith Greco has the story for CBC News.
https://www.rentalsfornewcomers.com/news/renting-in-canada-round…
# International, .Chinese woman’s unconventional solution to soaring housing costs: Renting a bathroom at office for Rs 545 a month
Trends Desk Indian Express (No paywall)The surging rent prompts many individuals to adjust to low-standard living situations, but one young woman in China has found an unconventional way to cope with the issue. Instead of renting an apartment, an 18-year-old woman in Hunan has chosen to live in a bathroom at her workplace to avoid steep rent prices. Yang works at a furniture store in Hunan. Faced with the high rent of 800 yuan (approximately Rs 9,415) per month, she negotiated with her employer’s wife to use the company’s restroom as her living space, the South China Morning Post reported.
https://indianexpress.com/article/trending/trending-globally/chi…
# Hot topic International, .Uninsurable and unaffordable: climate change and the rising cost of housing
The Guardian (No paywall)As housing affordability in Australia has worsened in recent years, it’s also brought the cost and challenges of adapting to climate change into sharp focus. More frequent and extreme weather events are already having an impact on housing, further reducing our stretched housing supply and contributing to increasing insurance costs. Climate change’s long-term impacts on mental health and economic resilience are also bubbling to the surface. The research sector is likely to play an important role as we attempt to tackle these dual crises, and researchers around Australia are working hard to understand how these problems relate to each other, and come up with solutions.
https://www.theguardian.com/deakin-university--bold-ideas-with-i…
# Must read Australia, .‘Australia is a landlord’s market’: rents still at record high despite slow growth, report shows
Cait Kelly The Guardian (No paywall)Rents are growing at the slowest rate in four years thanks in part to increased supply, but are still at record highs, Domain’s March quarterly report has revealed. It comes as Anglicare Australia launches a heat map showing rental affordability in each electorate, with Kingsford Smith, Bradfield, Sydney and Warringah in New South Wales and Fadden in Queensland the five least-affordable electorates in the country. Annual house rent increases have slowed to multi-year lows across many of the capital cities but all were still at record highs, with increases of...
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/apr/03/australia…
# Australia, Rent.