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
Housing development rejected over 'manipulation'
Anttoni James Numminen BBC (No paywall)Plans to build 23 homes on a plot of land in Scarborough have been rejected over concerns about the "manipulation" of affordable housing rules. Andrew Winter's application for five dwellings on Scalby Road as well as a separate outline plan for up to 18 homes was blocked at a council meeting. North Yorkshire Council planners said the site had been artificially subdivided, resulting in the number of dwellings proposed "being lower than the threshold for affordable housing". A report to the planning committee said the applicant had indicated the "whole quota of affordable housing" would be provided on the site for 18 dwellings but "there was no guarantee any permission would be implemented".
# Hot topic International, .Land power: who has it, who doesn't, and how it will shape our future
ABC (No paywall)Over the past two centuries, nearly every society has reallocated land ownership and property rights. If humanity is to flourish over the next century, Michael Albertus says we need to entirely rethink our relationship to the soil (or concrete) beneath our feet.
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/latenightlive/land-power-…
# Audio International, .Explainer: How the Government's new rental reforms will impact tenants
Daire Fitton CorkBeo (No paywall)The Government has announced a series of major rental reforms which will take effect in March next year. This follows a recent report showing that the average rent had exceeded €2,000 per month nationwide, with rents in Cork city about 10% above that national average. So, with many struggling to keep up with rising prices, how could this new legislation impact tenants? On the tenant side, the bill aims to expand rent controls, strengthen security of tenure, and end 'no fault' evictions amid the ongoing housing crisis. The legislation also includes a number of measures aimed at boosting investment in the residential sector by incentivising the construction of new apartments.
https://www.corkbeo.ie/news/how-governments-new-rental-reforms-3…
# Hot topic International, Eviction, Rent.Badly built housing propels the heat pandemic in Asia's cities
Peter Graham, Peter Bragge ABC (No paywall)It is a typical summer’s afternoon in Gujarat, India. Women and children are listless as they swelter in their homes in the 34-degree Celsius heat. It’s even hotter outside. Families that have moved into affordable housing units built in the last few years are finding their comfort and health have not been sufficiently considered in the design and construction of the new dwellings. There are similar issues in Indonesia — where one study showed most household energy use was dedicated to trying unsuccessfully to stay cool — and Australia, where tenants in rental properties were regularly experiencing indoor temperatures above 30C in summer.
https://www.abc.net.au/asia/bad-houses-heat-pandemic-asia-cities…
# Hot topic International, .Tenant quits lease after apartment hits almost 44C, bond refunded
Tracy Neal NZ Herald (No paywall)A tenant says the sweltering heat inside their apartment reached temperatures well into the 40s – ruining a laptop, killing pot plants and requiring medicines to be stored in a car where it was cooler. Now the tenant has been allowed to break a year-long lease and get their bond back, a month after moving in. It comes after NZME reported concerns this year that tens of thousands of Auckland families would suffer in overheating terraced houses and vulnerable people could risk “dying of heatstroke” unless construction designs changed.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/tenant-quits-lease-after-apartment…
# International, .Ireland modifies rent controls as it seeks to revive homebuilding
Reuters (No paywall)DUBLIN, June 10 (Reuters) - Ireland made minor changes on Tuesday to rent controls, seeking to strike a balance between what the housing minister described as a "doubling down" on protecting tenants from some of Europe's highest rental costs and encouraging much-needed construction. Ireland introduced the controls in 2016, initially in urban areas, to slow runaway rental costs and buy time for housing supply to catch up with demand. However, homebuilding stalled at 30,000 units last year, far below the government target of an average of 50,000 new homes a year to 2030.
https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/ireland-modifies-rent-con…
# International, .First-time homebuyers are an endangered species in the U.S.
Megan Cerullo CBS News (No paywall)The dream of homeownership is fading for millions of Americans.
Figures from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) show that only 24% of housing sales last year were by first-time homebuyers — that's down from 50% in 2010. The typical purchaser is also older than in the past, with an average age of 38, or about 10 years above historical norms. Such trends reflect the challenges of climbing on the property ladder as home prices hover near record highs, inventory remains low and with mortgage rates at their highest level in years. "There are fewer first-time homebuyers and they are older than we've ever seen, both because of headwinds inside and outside of the housing market".
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/housing-first-time-homebuyers-histo…
# International, .Living in Spain has never been more expensive as rent prices hit record highs
Marc Menendez-Roche EuroWeekly (No paywall)Living in Spain now costs more than ever. But, once upon a time, Spain was a sun-drenched land where you could bag a two-bedroom flat in Barcelona or Madrid for €650 a month — in the outskirts, but still €650. Fast forward ten years and that same shoebox now goes for over €1,200—if you’re lucky enough to even find one. Welcome to 2025, where living in Spain isn’t just hard—it’s becoming outright impossible.
https://euroweeklynews.com/2025/05/29/spains-rent-prices-hit-rec…
# Hot topic International, Rent.