A Boring Dystopia

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Get rid of landlords... (lemmy.world)

submitted 6 months ago by return2ozma@lemmy.world to c/aboringdystopia@lemmy.world

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[–] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 0 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

It's just that I don't think the high cost of housing is purely the landlord's fault, that's just shooting the messenger. The actual reasons vary by area, but I think they can be broken down into a few categories:

zoning laws favor low density housing, even in urban areas - we need more mixed use and high density zoning
poor transit increases the cost of travel to urban areas - you either need to make enough to live local, or make enough to commute in
lack of housing supply - partially due to the above, and partially due to the still-recovering housing market after supply got disrupted
higher demand - it seems since COVID, more people want to live on their own, which means more people looking for housing, and thus higher rents

Landlords are only relevant to the final point. They still are relevant, and there should probably be some changes to local landlording laws in many areas, but they're not the biggest cause for problems.

[–] Breezy@lemmy.world 1 points 6 months ago (1 children)

What are you going on about..... it has been shown that landlords have been artificially raising rent for nothing other then pure greed which hurts every day people and only benefits the rich.

[–] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 0 points 6 months ago (1 children)

They're a business, so they'll charge what the market will bear. Forcing them to take less profits will lead to less pressure to produce more housing, which hurts the supply problem.

Look at places like San Francisco that have rent controls, zoning laws prevent new housing construction, and limits on profits discourage investors from pushing to change those zoning laws. They also encourage people to keep their housing, since leaving then vacant may be preferable to getting a new lease if they need to leave the area for a while.

The proper solution to greed is to increase competition. For the housing market, that means zoning changes to promote higher density zoning paired with transit, and restrict new lower density housing. That way more people can actually use transit routes, which means less need for roads, which means more room for housing in cities and less tax dollars spent on maintenance.

[–] Breezy@lemmy.world 1 points 6 months ago (1 children)

No dude high rent is bad for almost everyone. People cant buy houses because most of them are owned by big corporations that squeeze every cent out of people.

[–] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 1 points 6 months ago

I agree, I'm just saying attacking landlords is attacking symptoms, not the root cause. The root cause is lack of supply for affordable homes, and that's a more complex issue largely stemming from COVID-related supply disruptions.