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5 in the Morning — 20 December 2019
5 in the Morning is a daily digest of interesting, relevant, and underreported news stories curated by Skylar Baker-Jordan.
Queen’s Speech: key takeaways affecting renters and buyers — House Beautiful
I’ve been writing about Britain’s housing crisis since 2015, but it’s been a problem for much longer than that. In yesterday’s Queen Speech, Boris Johnson laid out some radical changes to the British housing market that are worth considering. Among them is the end of “no-fault” evictions, which will help bring stability to tenants who might have been forced out of their homes at short notice. Another is a goal to, where possible, end leaseholds in favour of freeholds — though it’s important to note that, unlike what this article states, the Conservatives have not committed to eliminating leaseholds altogether. Another interesting initiative is one that would give local residents and first-time homebuyers who otherwise cannot afford to buy in an area receive a 30% discount on the price of their home, which might solve some of London’s gentrification crisis. (I said might.)
J.K. Rowling’s transphobia is a product of British culture– Vox
If you were on the internet yesterday you probably heard that JK Rowling caused some…
