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
Landlords should foot ‘significant’ part of energy efficiency bill
Caitlin Doherty and Emily Beament Yahoo News (No paywall)Landlords should foot a “significant” amount of the bill to meet energy efficiency standards outlined in Government proposals, Ed Miliband has said. Under the plans put out for consultation, all private landlords in England and Wales will pay a maximum £15,000 cap to meet energy performance certificate (EPC) C or above by the end of the decade. The Government says the proposals could save renters £240 a year on average on their energy bills, and lift up to half a million households out of fuel poverty, as they will not have to spend so much heating cold, draughty homes.
https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/landlords-foot-significant-par…
# Hot topic International, Rent.‘We’d just switch everything off’: six in ten social housing tenants go without essentials to pay rent
Kesia Reeve and Paul Hickman The Conversation (No paywall)The social housing sector in England houses 4 million tenants (16% of the country’s households). The sector is home to some of the UK’s most vulnerable and poorest households, and paying rent is one of the biggest challenges they face. If they do not pay, they risk being evicted from their homes. Recent research we carried out for the Nuffield Foundation highlights the difficulties many tenants face paying their rent, and the sacrifices they have to make to do so.
https://theconversation.com/wed-just-switch-everything-off-six-i…
# Must read International, Eviction, Public and community housing, Rent.Rogue landlords in England to face curbs on housing benefit income, says Labour
Rowena Mason The Guardian (No paywall)Rogue landlords in England will face curbs on how much housing benefit they can receive if their properties are substandard, Angela Rayner has said as she announced an extra £350m for affordable housing. The deputy prime minister presented the funding increase, adding to £500m already announced at the budget, as part of the government’s drive to build 1.5m homes. Alongside the extra money for affordable housing, Rayner will set out plans next week to crack down on exploitative landlords. Under the plans, there will be a new licensing scheme, tougher standards and the ability to stop housing benefit going to rogue and criminal supported housing landlords.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/feb/12/rogue-landlords-…
# International, Rent.Renters enraged by detail in real estate’s ‘late rent policy’ document
Ally Foster news.com.au (No paywall)A document from a real estate agency appearing to suggest tenants get a bank loan or use credit cards in order to pay their rent on time has enraged Aussie renters. The document from Ray White Bankstown in Sydney was recently shared to a tenant support Facebook group by a person claiming to rent their home through the agency. The letter, which the renter said they received as part of their tenancy agreement documents, outlines the company’s “zero tolerance policy” for late rent payments and advises renters what will happen if they fall behind.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/renting/renters-enra…
# Hot topic, TUNSW in the media NSW, .Paris Apartments for Rent: A Practical Guide to Finding a Flat
Eliza Lourenço World Radio Paris (No paywall)Paris has a bad reputation when it comes to finding a place to live. Advice can also vary widely. It’s important to stay informed and get the facts straight. I’d heard that finding a rental was difficult, so when I moved to Paris from Sydney, Australia, I made it a top priority to find accommodation before I had even stepped foot in the country. There’s really no such thing as being too prepared when it comes to moving overseas. This is easier said than done. The problem with renting in Paris isn’t necessarily having a lack of money to pay the rent itself; rather, it can be hard as a foreigner to meet requirements. I know first-hand how important it can be to know your rights as a tenant in Paris.
https://worldradioparis.org/paris-apartments-for-rent-a-practica…
# International, Rent.NSW Government’s new Rental Taskforce to crack down on bad landlords, real estate agents
Elizabeth Pike Daily Telegraph (Soft Paywall)Renters still face being evicted for no reason, strict limits on pets, and huge upfront bond payments, with the Minns government yet to bring “long overdue” changes into effect. While rental reforms which passed parliament last year are still not in place, the Minns government has now established an $8.4 million taskforce to crack down on dodgy real estate agents and landlords. Fair Trading Minister Anoulack Chanthivong said inspection, audit and compliance blitzes will be carried out across the state in the coming months to hold rogue industry actors accountable.
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/nsw-governments-new-r…
# TUNSW in the media NSW, .Minns pumps repossession and renovation fix for NSW public housing
Julian Bajkowski The Mandarin (No paywall)The Minns government is reviving stalled public housing redevelopment projects that have been hindered by high interest rates and labour shortages, showcasing its refurbishment of the “Three Sisters” mid-century housing block in Sydney suburb Telopea as an example of what can be done. Located next to the Parramatta Light Rail, which replaced the Carlingford Line with frequent trams, the Wade Street Towers site will return 148 public housing units to the system after a failed redevelopment deal. The mid-rise buildings stand out for their higher architectural and construction standards compared to most public housing complexes.
https://www.themandarin.com.au/286026-minns-pumps-repossession-a…
# Hot topic NSW, .Council development forces caravan park regulars out of coastal escape
9 News (No paywall)Phil has been holidaying at the NRMA Shellharbour Beachside Holiday Park south of Sydney for 23 years. Recently he spent upwards of $50,000 renovating his caravan to better enjoy the picturesque coastal escape. But he and several other caravan park regulars are soon to be booted from the site, after Shellharbour City Council announced they are going to convert annual sites into casual rentals.
https://9now.nine.com.au/a-current-affair/shellharbour-beachside…
# Video NSW, Land lease communities, Rent.