Soaring power bills add to people’s worries about keeping their homes cool, especially as their health can suffer if they don’t. Fortunately, there are effective and affordable ways to beat the heat.
It’s impossible to escape exposure to microplastics and a new study confirms they’re in household dust around the world. But the health risks appear surprisingly low, and vacuuming makes a difference.
The growth of Ontario’s house market has pushed housing prices out of the reaches of many.
(Shutterstock)
Affordable housing has become a middle-class problem, and Ontario’s latest housing report reflects an approach that continues to marginalize those with the greatest need.
The pandemic has made the affordable housing crisis a lot worse, in part by increasing the rate of evictions.
AP Photo/Jeff Roberson
California and other states plan to build more homes in an effort to fix America’s affordable housing problem. But that’s not the main reason housing remains unaffordable for millions of people.
A new home is built in a housing development in Ottawa in July 2020.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
We need more research and research capacity that’s better suited to current housing challenges. We must inform housing providers and policy-makers to provide solutions and evaluate those solutions.
Vanlifers enjoy the freedom of living in their vans.
(Alex Guillaume/Unsplash)
Understanding the experiences of van dwellers is important not just for those looking to cut their ties to rents and mortgages, but also for community planners and employers.
How many of us have recently wished we could partition parts of our home, even to have a small second house? Being able to do this on existing blocks would help meet the many needs of families today.
Tens of thousands of New Zealanders don’t have secure or adequate accommodation – so how can they safely self-isolate in NZ’s lockdown? But there are solutions – and here’s where to start.
As more people of color move to the suburbs, they might not find the full range of opportunities that white European ethnic groups did for most of the previous century.
Families can use their EITC to improve their housing.
Colin D. Young/Shutterstock.com
The Earned Income Tax Credit was established in 1975 to reduce payroll taxes and help with rising prices for low-income families. Today, it could help poor families with housing.
Who’s the boss in a smart home?
Shutterstock/Tracy ben
Windows help those who can’t get out understand and participate in the world around them.
Sometimes thousands of ladybirds will ‘overwinter’ in the same spot, which experts say is normal behaviour and nothing for homeowners to be alarmed about.
David Lovejoy
The law says that newly built houses should have a six-star energy rating, to help residents afford their heating and cooling bills. But some builders seem to be findings ways around this requirement.