[Berkowitz is now] offering custom pods for sale on Craigslist for people who want to make money with AirBnB or have their own subletters. [...]

The Department of Building Inspection reached out ... confirming that the pods are illegal and a violation of housing, building, and fire safety codes. [...]

"He would have to completely open it up or look at something different, such as a bed with a frame, with curtains, something that was open to the room." [...]

"there are fire safety realities." — Hoodline

bastardized visual language has become the de facto standard of Dallas residential architecture development. The explanation for its ever-increasing prevalence, however depressing, is fairly straightforward. Developers find something that’s profitable and want to reproduce it. Risk-averse banks are happy to lend them money given their track record, at least in the short term. Architects, stuck with low budgets, tight schedules, and conservative developers, serve to please and follow convention. — artsblog.dallasnews.com

In new guidance, released Monday, HUD tells landlords and home sellers that turning down tenants or buyers based on their criminal records may violate the Fair Housing Act.

People with criminal records aren't a protected class under the Fair Housing Act... but blanket policies of refusing to rent to anybody with a criminal record are de facto discrimination, the department says — because of the systemic disparities of the American criminal justice system. — NPR

With the median rent for a one-bedroom apartment at $3,670 a month, the city’s housing crisis has pushed frugal renters to the edge of their comfort limits.

From tents to trucks, the next logical step in San Francisco has taken shape — in the form of a literal box. [...]

“I really don’t feel like I’ve taken a hit in terms of my quality of life,” said Berkowitz, 25. “I don’t really notice I live in the pod anymore.” — washingtonpost.com

A first-in-the-nation complex to be built in Hollywood would house about 200 LGBT seniors and young adults on the same campus.

Lorrie Jean, CEO of the the Los Angeles LGBT Center, which is building the $100 million complex, calls the two generation groups "the two most vulnerable parts of our community." — scpr.org

Buy-to-let landlords should face new limits on the amount they can borrow, the Bank of England has proposed.

It suggested that lenders should be much stricter when deciding whether or not to grant landlords a mortgage.

Instead of just taking their rental income into account, the Bank wants lenders to look at their wider financial situation as well.

If adopted, the new rules could reduce lending to landlords by up to 20% over the next three years. — BBC

Rapidly rising property prices and rents, combined with the loss of social housing through right to buy, have put councils under growing pressure to find new ways to help people off their housing lists.

In Lewisham one solution is a £4.3m scheme to provide 24 homes and 880 sq m of business space that can be picked up and moved at a later date, allowing the council to make use of vacant brownfield land while longer-term projects are finalised. — theguardian.com

This got us thinking about what it takes to build an ideal town: should pubs be on every residential corner or on the high street? How many trendy coffee shops are too many? Are libraries still a thing? We didn't have the answers to any of those questions, so we spoke to Matt Richards – a planner at property consultancy Bidwells – to find out what makes the perfect town. — VICE

Since I think there are a lot of folks out there who genuinely haven't made up their minds about the initiative, or aren’t familiar with it yet, I'd like to summarize some of the most important reasons to oppose it when it comes time to vote this November. - — Better Institutions

It's hard to remember that just a few decades ago it was difficult, if not impossible, for a woman alone to take out a mortgage. Federal legislation changed that.

And yet, it's still surprising to learn how dominant single women have become in the housing market today: Their share is second only to married couples, and twice that of single men. — npr.org

Parisian designer Stéphane Malka Architecture has suggested creating affordable housing in the French capital by adding prefabricated elements on top of and between existing buildings.

The “3box” system does not require the purchase of sites. Instead, the right to build is obtained in exchange for renovating existing buildings.

According to Stéphane Malka, the housing would cost 40% less than the usual market price and could be built quickly and cheaply in workshops. — Global Construction Plan

In a fresh bid to confront a problem that has confounded lawmakers for decades, Los Angeles city and county officials approved sweeping plans Tuesday aimed at getting thousands of homeless people off the streets.

But one crucial question remains unanswered: Where will most of the money come from? [...]

The renewed government attention to homelessness was spurred in part by a 12% surge in people living on the streets [...] pushing the total to more than 44,000 homeless people countywide. — latimes.com

Tens of thousands of hard-working families will be forced to leave their council homes and find themselves unable to afford a local alternative as a result of government plans to restrict social housing to the poorest, according to research obtained by the Observer.

The devastating figures...show that almost 60,000 households in England will be unable to afford to remain in their council properties from April next year, as a result of George Osborne’s reform, called “pay to stay”. — the Guardian

New York City once set the standard for subsidized housing. The city started out building and maintaining tens of thousands of apartments for working families, sponsoring job training and social programs. It ran a budget surplus. [...] Now the Village is like a gated playground for runaway wealth. Subsidized apartments all across town are converting to market-rate rentals and condos faster than City Hall can build affordable units or preserve old ones. — nytimes.com

What went wrong in Winnipeg was not just about architecture, and 5468796 were stuck trying to make the best of a bad situation. The pulling out of government support to make Centre Village an actual co-operative changed the [project's direction]...'It’s time to get the peanut butter off our fingers,' said Ross McGowan, former chief executive and president of CentreVenture...He admits that a failure to understand the needs of the community took a considerable toll on the project. — The Guardian