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
Welsh housing associations partner with faith groups to build homes on church land
Lucie Heath Inside Housing (Paywall)Five housing associations and one consortium have been chosen to participate in the next phase of the Faith in Affordable Housing Project that is run by Housing Justice Cymru, Wales’ only non-denominational Christian housing charity. The project attempts to transform surplus church land and buildings into affordable rented housing. To date, it has delivered almost 100 affordable homes. It was launched in 2016.
https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/welsh-housing-associat…
# International, Affordable housing, Housing market.The poor pay more: How housing problems are costing our kids
Qiuyi Tan (No paywall)In a paper published in the New Zealand Population Review, University of Otago researcher Louisa Choe writes that "the poor pay more in all forms, not only in financial costs but also in opportunity costs and security... almost always receiving a lesser return on their investment. In other words, the poorer you are, the more things cost." It's a poverty penalty that is discounting the young women's physical and mental wellbeing to the point of "evicting" them from their childhoods, Choe argues, calling for policies specifically targeting young people's housing needs. (NZ Hearld)
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/the-poor-pay-more-how-housing-prob…
# Research alert International, Health, Housing market, Women, Young people.Bidding wars break out for rentals in lettings hotspots
Melissa York (No paywall)From the United Kingdom ... The only thing worse than being gazumped on a home you want to buy is being gazumped on a home you need to rent. Bidding wars may be commonplace in Britain’s frenzied sales market, but they are becoming the norm in lettings too. The post-pandemic landscape has changed. Landlords are selling to make the most of record house prices or they have pivoted to letting their properties on a short-term basis on platforms such as Airbnb to escape taxes, regulations and make money out of the staycation boom. The result? Fewer properties available to let long-term and tenants are having to outbid each other on the monthly rent to find a place to live. (The Times)
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/bidding-wars-break-out-for-re…
# International, Rent, Housing market, Short-term holiday letting.Pretium Partners is under investigation. Critics ask (again) why a major Canadian pension fund formed an $870M partnership with the company
Richard Warnica (No paywall)From the United States ... A major investment partner of one of Canada’s largest public pension plans is under congressional investigation in the United States following allegations the firm sought to evict more than 1,700 renters during the pandemic, including a disproportionately large number in majority Black areas of the country. ... “I think it’s sad to see that Canadian pension funds are invested in the displacement of Black households,” said Nemoy Lewis, an assistant professor at Ryerson University who studies the impact of financialized housing on Black renters. “I definitely think that this should serve as a warning to the Canadian government, as well as all levels of government in this country, of the ramifications of continuing to allow financialized landlords to amass all these properties.” (The Star)
https://www.thestar.com/amp/business/2021/08/07/pretium-partners…
# International, Eviction, Coronavirus COVID-19, Landlords and agents, Race and ethnicity.Ohio one of few states to skip on eviction moratorium during pandemic
Jake Zuckerman (No paywall)When the new coronavirus emerged, a rush of 43 states and Washington D.C. instituted an eviction moratorium, temporarily blocking landlords from ousting tenants from their housing during a health crisis. Not Ohio. (Ohio Capital Journal)
https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2021/08/12/ohio-one-of-few-states…
# Hot topic International, Eviction, Rent, Coronavirus COVID-19.Tiny houses have a big problem
Josh Kruger (No paywall)If you think tiny houses are cool or a great way to end homelesness, I am here to ruin your day. ... Until there is more affordable housing, this “solution” leads nowhere. Instead, these are just feel-good boondoggles so middle and upper class people can feel like they’re doing something. Even worse, they don’t solve a problem, they make it easier to ignore. They’re storage sheds for human beings who otherwise remind us all of our society’s failure to care. If you ask me, tiny houses aren’t heartwarming. They’re insidious. Human beings deserve better than this. They deserve affordable housing. Given how achievable this is, it’s inexcusable for us to do anything less. (The Philadelphia Citizen)
# International, Affordable housing, Homelessness, Housing market.National Homelessness Week August 1 - 7 in the Southern Highlands
Vera Demertzis (No paywall)They say a person's home is their castle, but did you know that more than 116,000 people across Australia are currently experiencing a form of homelessness. ... Southern Highlands regional president for St Vincent de Paul Society Peter Doris said it was unfortunate that there was no temporary accommodation in the Highlands to support people experiencing homelessness. ... Mr Doris said there were some services in the Southern Highlands to help support people. "We have the Southern Highlands Homelessness Services," he said. "We have four or five caseworkers that work from there and they cover the Wingecarribee area. They are in close contact with Argyle Housing, and other services in the Southern Highlands such as the Salvation Army and Anglicare. "We also have a refuge in Bowral that has beds for young people between the ages of 14 and 18 and Pathways which is for women aged 18 or over." [But] "There's been a big increase in the number of people looking for help in the Southern Highlands," he said. (Southern Highland News)
https://www.southernhighlandnews.com.au/story/7372722/thats-the-…
# NSW, Homelessness, Regional NSW.Why are home prices soaring?
ABC (No paywall)House prices in Australia are climbing at rates we’ve seldom seen. In all age groups, there is more renting and less home ownership than there used to be. Is housing supply part of the problem? (The Economists, ABC Radio National)
https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/the-economists/why…
# Audio Australia, Rent, Home ownership, Housing market.