Welcome to the second issue of Follow the Housing newsletter!
As society begins to look beyond the coronavirus crisis, some old issues are back on the housing policy agenda, some new ones have emerged. What will happen when housing evictions resume, and are we to expect an upsurge of anti-eviction movements and policies? What rent and house price trends can we expect in the next months and years? The questions related to the pandemic's impact on the housing market are at the focus of this newsletter.
Moreover, as you might or might not know: The Arena Housing Project is a brainchild of Dataharvest - the European Investigative Journalism Conference. Due to the pandemic, the conference could not take place in May, but we have taken it online. As of September, you can participate in a 3-month long event, full of online training, discussions and learning possibilities about the most relevant topics related to data and investigative journalism in Europe.
And now, for something completely different: What does the post-COVID housing market looks like from investors’ point of view, told by a conservative and business-friendly newspaper: “Why do new buyers have fewer choices? (Le Figaro, in French)
Your Place or Mine?_ Housing questions that need answers
During the peak of the pandemic in Europe, many countries temporarily suspended home evictions - what’s the situation now?
If evictions have resumed in your country, are there any figures available on this topic? And what do figures look like?
If you have more information about these topics or a link to a useful data set, let us know and we'll share it with our mailing list and/or feature it in the Arena Housing Knowledge Base!
Let Me Show You Around_Welcome to our Knowledge Base
The Arena Housing Knowledge Base has a section dedicated to Access to housing in which we have compiled a number of media reports from across Europe during the coronavirus crisis.
In this section (under year 2020) you will find an interesting data story from Inside Housing (UK), linking COVID-19 deaths and the housing crisis, and a very similar story by Francetvinfo from Parisian suburbs of Seine-Saint-Denis, where bad housing and the fact that many of its inhabitants are key workers, might explain the excessive mortality rate in the area.
Something to Write Home About__Tell us what's going on
Send us tips, help us improve our work and share interesting stuff with us!
Reach out to:
Jose, Project Director (jose@journalismarena.eu)
Jelena, Community Coordinator (jelena@journalismarena.eu)
Since Jelena is also coordinating this year’s Dataharvest Climate&Energy track, and is interested in the topic at the intersection of housing and climate, let her know if there have been any interesting media reports, in your part of Europe on the role of housing in the energy transition/climate change. Do you know of databases and important documents that one should look into when researching this topic?
