5 ms·

Why on earth do you think changing proposition 13 would 'fix' the rental market?

Kalium 10y ago
There are a couple of reasons. First, there are sane rental markets in other places without prop 13 or anything like it. This makes clear that prop 13 is neither necessary nor sufficient for a sane rental market. This raises the question of whether prop 13 is really needed at all. Second, prop 13 has contributed to the current insanity by created a privileged group that acts to protect their privilege. They protect their privilege by becoming ferocious NIMBYs and other means. This means that housing for people not currently covered by prop 13 is more expensive than it needs to be. Changing prop 13 is not sufficient to fix an insane rental market, but we really should consider a potential re-examination of a policy that has helped push a great many people out of their homes. Pushing people out of their homes is not cool. We should consider maybe doing less of it.
- ktRolster 10y ago
  How does prop 13 make housing more expensive for people not currently covered by prop 13? If the owner of the apartment pays fewer taxes, won't that keep prices down for the renter?
  - Kalium 10y ago
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Proposition_13_(1978)#Sales_Disincentives.2C_Less_Individual_Mobility.2C_Higher_Housing_Costs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Proposition_13_(197... Your analysis would be correct in a context where both supply and demand for housing are constant... and also assuming that maintenance costs never, ever change. However, prop 13 helps to discourage land sales and new construction, resulting in a supply that grows much more slowly than demand. This drives prices up, especially in areas like the Bay that have been under-building housing for decades. Higher prices results in landlords incentivized to find ways to throw out rent-controlled tenants and outright prices out many working-class families. Also the costs of things like building upgrades and plumbers can sometimes go up year-to-year. In short, keeping property taxes fixed to 1970s-era for grandma with multi-million dollar property results in people getting pushed out of their homes. This is perhaps just a bit less than ideal.
    - ktRolster 10y ago
      I see what you are saying, that people staying in their houses is preventing people from moving out and the houses being destroyed and apartments built in their place.
      - Kalium 10y ago
        Basically, the market is a good deal less liquid than it should be. This has a surprising number of nasty side-effects.
        ktRolster 10y ago
        I would be surprised if that were the real blocker in SF, though. If you look at this graphic, the yellow areas are all zoned to build no taller than 40 feet: http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/5342ef126da811ef6aba14fa-917-687/sf-building-height-zoning-1.jpg http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/5342ef126da811ef6ab...
        Kalium 10y ago
        The two things are not independent. One of the reasons things are zoned so agressively and changes to zoning fought so hard is prop 13's effects.

There are a couple of reasons. First, there are sane rental markets in other places without prop 13 or anything like it. This makes clear that prop 13 is neither necessary nor sufficient for a sane rental market. This raises the question of whether prop 13 is really needed at all. Second, prop 13 has contributed to the current insanity by created a privileged group that acts to protect their privilege. They protect their privilege by becoming ferocious NIMBYs and other means. This means that housing for people not currently covered by prop 13 is more expensive than it needs to be. Changing prop 13 is not sufficient to fix an insane rental market, but we really should consider a potential re-examination of a policy that has helped push a great many people out of their homes. Pushing people out of their homes is not cool. We should consider maybe doing less of it.

ktRolster 10y ago
How does prop 13 make housing more expensive for people not currently covered by prop 13? If the owner of the apartment pays fewer taxes, won't that keep prices down for the renter?
- Kalium 10y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Proposition_13_(1978)#Sales_Disincentives.2C_Less_Individual_Mobility.2C_Higher_Housing_Costs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Proposition_13_(197... Your analysis would be correct in a context where both supply and demand for housing are constant... and also assuming that maintenance costs never, ever change. However, prop 13 helps to discourage land sales and new construction, resulting in a supply that grows much more slowly than demand. This drives prices up, especially in areas like the Bay that have been under-building housing for decades. Higher prices results in landlords incentivized to find ways to throw out rent-controlled tenants and outright prices out many working-class families. Also the costs of things like building upgrades and plumbers can sometimes go up year-to-year. In short, keeping property taxes fixed to 1970s-era for grandma with multi-million dollar property results in people getting pushed out of their homes. This is perhaps just a bit less than ideal.
  - ktRolster 10y ago
    I see what you are saying, that people staying in their houses is preventing people from moving out and the houses being destroyed and apartments built in their place.
    - Kalium 10y ago
      Basically, the market is a good deal less liquid than it should be. This has a surprising number of nasty side-effects.
      - ktRolster 10y ago
        I would be surprised if that were the real blocker in SF, though. If you look at this graphic, the yellow areas are all zoned to build no taller than 40 feet: http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/5342ef126da811ef6aba14fa-917-687/sf-building-height-zoning-1.jpg http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/5342ef126da811ef6ab...
        Kalium 10y ago
        The two things are not independent. One of the reasons things are zoned so agressively and changes to zoning fought so hard is prop 13's effects.