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
Homelessness in England at highest level on record, watchdog says
Patrick Butler and Sally Weale The Guardian (No paywall)Homelessness is at its highest level in England since records began and is expected to worsen, according to a scathing investigation by the public spending watchdog into the last government’s attempts to tackle the problem. The National Audit Office (NAO) said that despite a range of measures introduced under Theresa May’s Conservative administration in 2018, homelessness had soared, with record numbers of families now trapped in unsuitable accommodation.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/article/2024/jul/23/homeless…
# Hot topic International, .Real Estate Software Aided Price-Fixing “Cartel” Among US Property Companies
Tyler Walicek Truthout (No paywall)The rent is, infamously, too damn high. That refrain has such staying power because the United States’s noxious rent crisis has shown no signs of abating, with rents rising over 30 percent since 2019. All manner of ill effects have resulted; the rapid simultaneous growth of the homelessness crisis is no coincidence. Obfuscations aside, the correlation there is quite direct. But the origins of the rent and housing crisis itself can seem a bit more diffuse: perhaps some combination of shortages driven by lulls in development (though in truth, we don’t lack housing per se so much as we lack affordable, low-income housing).
https://truthout.org/articles/real-estate-software-aided-price-f…
# Hot topic International, .Landlords unable to rent out homes without licence
BBC (No paywall)Landlords who have missed the deadline to apply for a new mandatory licence can still apply but will not be able to rent out their properties until they do so. The Rented Dwelling Licensing Scheme legally requires landlords to hold a licence for each home they rent out in Jersey. From 1 August, it is illegal for a landlord to rent without a licence and inspections may need to take place before a licence is granted. The scheme was brought in on 1 May to better protect and improve rented homes on the island.
# Hot topic International, Rent.'I earn £50,000 and can't afford to buy a house'
Colletta Smith BBC (No paywall)Only one in eight renters can afford to buy in the area in which they live, research suggests. High rent, bills and house prices mean it is more difficult for renters to buy their first home than it is for existing owners to move on, according to Skipton Group. Its new index, compiled by Oxford Economics, claims renters are four times less likely to be able to buy than homeowners. Software engineer Emma Harris earns £50,000 a year and said the cost of renting and bills takes up about two-thirds of her salary. "I am not likely to ever own a house and it’s just depressing," she said.
# Hot topic International, Rent.Housebuilding target to rise from 300,000 per year to 370,000, says Angela Rayner
Reuters The Guardian (No paywall)The collective total for the new mandatory housebuilding target would rise from 300,000 a year to 370,000 under Labour, with an obligation to build homes in all areas, Angela Rayner told MPs in parliament. Councils in England could be forced to build on low-quality green belt sites to meet mandatory targets as part of a government shake-up of planning rules. Under the new regime all local authorities will have a duty to deliver more homes, and unless they produce a clear plan for how this will happen, ministers could step in and take over the process.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/video/2024/jul/30/housebuil…
# Hot topic International, Rent.‘Applying for a home felt harder than applying for a job’: NZ private rentals won’t solve need for emergency housing
Jessica Terruhn & Francis L Collins The Conversation (No paywall)The number of people living in emergency housing in Aotearoa New Zealand has grown exponentially over the last eight years – but plans to rely on the private rental sector ignore fundamental realities of renting. Established in 2016, the emergency housing programme – short-term housing for people with nowhere to stay – was meant to be a stop-gap measure. There are now 3,000 active tenancies as a lack of affordability and shortages in housing place pressure on low-income renters.
https://theconversation.com/applying-for-a-home-felt-harder-than…
# International, Rent.The Kelly gang’s last stand
Tessa Flemming and Sean Davey ABC (No paywall)Photojournalist Sean Davey captures Margaret Kelly’s crusade to stay in her public housing home, and the community support that highlighted the plight of all public housing tenants. It was a few weeks before the Christmas of 2021 when residents of Port Melbourne’s 89-dwelling Barak Beacon Estate were delivered relocation notices. One of those was long-term resident Margaret Kelly.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-07-30/the-fight-to-save-port-me…
# Hot topic Australia, Public and community housing.Rental growth is slowing, but here’s why renters are still likely to downsize
Benn Dorrington realestate.com.au (No paywall)Renters can expect to see a slowdown in rental growth over the coming months, but the persistent shortage of homes available to rent will keep the pressure on tenants. National rents remained flat at $600 per week over the three months to June, according to the latest PropTrack Rental Report. However, national rents have increased by $50 per week or 9.1% since June last year in what has been a significant hit to the hip pocket of many renters.
https://www.realestate.com.au/news/rental-growth-is-slowing-but-…
# Hot topic, TUNSW in the media Australia, Rent.