In today’s newsletter: No-fault evictions are rocketing, bills are ballooning and social housing lists are overloaded – what the statistics reveal about renting today and why urgent reform is needed• Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First EditionGood morning. On average there are 20 people requesting to view each rental property that comes on the market in Britain, more than triple what it was in 2019. In some parts of the north-west, that number inches closer to 30 per property. Moving house has always been stressful, but it has become an all-consuming battle for many people as rents rise and demand outstrips supply.A chronic housing shortage is the primary reason, however campaigners and tenants have said they cannot wait for the government to build more homes. Rough sleeping increased by 34% in London between 2021 and 2022, while the number of people consistently struggling to pay their rent has increased by 45% since last April to more than 2.5 million, according to the housing charity Shelter.Global health | Air pollution is helping to drive a rise in antibiotic resistance that poses a significant threat to human health worldwide, a study published in the Lancet Planetary Health journal suggests. Antibiotic resistance is one of the fastest-growing threats to global health, killing an estimated 1.3 million people a year.Asylum | People seeking refuge who were ordered to live on a giant barge have been reprieved after legal challenges claimed the vessel was unsafe and unsuitable for traumatised people. As the first tranche of 15 people were moved on to the Bibby Stockholm in Portland, Dorset, lawyers said they were intervening to halt the transfer of dozens more on to the 220-bedroom vessel.Retail | Britain’s stores are being forced to slash their prices to drum up business after dismal summer weather and ever-higher interest rates combined to depress consumer spending in July.South Korea | The £1m cost of relocating the 4,500-strong UK contingent at the World Scout Jamboree in South Korea will affect the work of the Scout Association for as much as five years, the organisation’s boss has said. Meanwhile South Korea is having to move the thousands remaining out of the way of a typhoon.Lobbying | The tech firm Palantir, which grew out of a US spy organisation, lobbied the UK disabilities minister to adopt new technology to crack down on benefits fraud, emails released to the Guardian have revealed. The correspondence provides the latest insight into how the firm – co-founded by Peter Thiel, the Donald Trump-supporting libertarian billionaire – is seeking to expand its influence and role within British government. Continue reading…
Source : theguardian.com
Read more…Tuesday briefing: How the housing crisis is hitting tenants hardest
