Housing Crisis: The Grim Reality For Families On Short-Term Tenancies

A cancer patient served an eviction notice at Christmas, a landlord who lost his flat in a card game and a mum-of-three forced to move every time she fell pregnant - these are some of the horror stories behind the rental market in 2018.

Emma Percy and husband Rob tell their children moving is “an adventure” but the family has been turfed out of a staggering 11 properties in 16 years, once when she was nine months’ pregnant.

The couple, who are calling for the government to introduce mandatory long-term tenancies, have been heartbroken watching savings for their own home decimated as they fork out for letting fees, deposits and moving vans.

Fastest Way to More Rental Housing? Tax Changes

People keep asking “Why is there so little new rental housing built?”

The real question should be “Why are investors not interested in building new rental housing?”

The answer is that Canadian tax policy since 1972 has made new rental construction a very poor investment. It’s that simple.

Minimum Wage Workers Can’t Afford Rent Anywhere In The Country

People who make the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour can’t find an affordable place to live anywhere in the country, according to a new report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

But perhaps even more surprising is that even if the minimum wage were raised to $15 an hour — the level low-wage workers have been demanding in a constant flow of strikes and protests and the highest level supported by Democratic lawmakers — they would still be out of luck.

British First-Time Buyers Foot £50K On Rent, And For Those Just Leaving Home The News Is Even Worse

First-time buyers joining the property ladder this year have spent on average more than £50,000 on rent, according to the latest figures.

Most people purchasing a house in England have already shelled out £52,900, research by the Association of Residential Lettings Agents (Arla) shows.

The figure is set to hit £64,400 for those starting renting now, meaning some people will never be able to afford to buy their own place.

These Maps Show Where Rents Are Going Up and Incomes Are Going Down

Today, the Census Bureau released its latest update to the American Community Survey, publishing a trove of recent data on everything from education levels to economic indicators for the United States' 3,142 counties. The new numbers offer evidence of the lasting effects of the Great Recession and the ongoing financial stagnation faced by most Americans: In counties across the country, poverty rates are up and incomes are down, while rents are rising and home ownership is dropping.

Got kids? Find another place to live

Twenty-two-month-old Ava McCubbin has a toddler's chubby cheeks, blond hair and an infectious smile. She's also a big reason why her parents, Gina and Bruce McCubbin, can't find a place to live.

"When I contacted a landlord and I explained that we had Ava, she abruptly told me that she wasn't welcome."  Bruce McCubbin told CBC News.

Affordable Housing Initiative Demands Action For Historic Rental Crisis We Can't Ignore

Advocates are proving why home is so much more than a place to store your belongings.

Home Matters, a campaign supporting affordable housing initiatives nationwide, is using the month of February to highlight the importance of having a safe and comfortable place to call home. The group points out that there are proven connections between an individual's home and their potential to access quality education, benefit from dependable public safety and receive proper healthcare.

"Home is where the heart is," the video reads. "In fact, home is where it all starts."

Rent Prices Shut Out Minimum-Wage Workers In Every State: Report

Think the rent is too damn high? Well, it actually is. No matter where you live in the country, a new report says that no full-time worker making minimum wage can adequately afford a one-bedroom or two-bedroom rental at fair market rent.

Faced with that bleak fact, it makes perfect sense why President Obama and Congress have been making such a big push to raise the federal minimum wage.

The Rent Is Too Damn High, In 1 Chart

Jimmy McMillan said it, we all feel it and now there’s a chart to prove it: The rent is too damn high.

More than half of all renters across the country last year spent at least 30 percent of their income on rent, widely considered the breaking point for affordability, according to a new report from Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies. At 21.1 million households, that’s the biggest number of so-called cost-burdened renters on record.

The explosion of renters living in unaffordable housing began before the Great Recession, but the number of renters spending an outsized portion of their income on rent spiked after 2007, as incomes dropped or stalled, the report found. At the same time, housing costs have kept rising: In 2011, the median cost for housing built in the previous four years was more than $1,000 per month -- higher than many renters can afford.

As a result of these two pressures, the share of renters paying more than 30 percent of their income on rent grew 12 percent over the past decade, according to the report.

Low-income renters are especially burdened by the costs of housing. Eighty-three percent of renters making $15,000 or less spent more than 30 percent of their income on housing in 2011, forcing them to cut back on other necessities like food.

Original Article
Source: huffingtonpost.com/
Author: The Huffington Post  |  By Jillian Berman

Rent control loophole blamed for rising condo rents

The Ontario government needs to close a loophole that has created a “two-tiered system of renters” — an increasing number of them in new downtown condos where some landlords are jacking up rents as a form of economic eviction, says the head of the Federation of Metro Tenants’ Associations.

The federation has had numerous calls from condo tenants, surprised to discover that apartment or condominium buildings occupied after November 1, 1991 are exempt from rent controls.

America's Poorest People Running Out Of Places To Live: Study

The poorest people in America are running out of places to live.

In every state in the country, there are people looking for cheap rental housing -- and in every state, there aren't enough units available, according to a report released Wednesday by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, a nonprofit organization.

"The existence of the gap is not a matter of debate," the report notes.

The findings highlight the increasingly desperate situation of people who work but don't earn much, and who are finding themselves priced out of the rental market as more and more Americans look for alternatives to traditional homeownership.

For every 100 households that earn less than one-third of the median income for their region, according to the report, there are only 30 affordable and available rental units -- meaning, places to live that aren't dilapidated, prohibitively expensive, too far from public transportation, or already occupied by someone earning a higher salary.

There might be more affordable housing options available for the poor if the housing market and the economy overall weren't so weak. Since the recession took hold, though, many people have found themselves lacking the money or the credit to make a major purchase like a house.