> Uh, landlords don't control new construction. Government and NIMBYs do Well, government and highly engaged groups of voters exercise control in municipalitie

> Uh, landlords don't control new construction. Government and NIMBYs do Well, government and highly engaged groups of voters exercise control in municipalities in Western democracies. Landlords come in many stripes and some are local voters who hold land/property. These landlords are often NIMBYs, as any increase in supply of housing drives down the asset price of housing/land, which is to say their investments. MOst of these landlords aren't in the position to take advantage of liberalized zoning, as the are undercapitalized relative to the cost of land/construction. All of their financial eggs tend be in the basket of their existing property. Larger landlords, or developers/real estate firms may well favor liberalized zoning as they profit from development. However, at the moment many voters hate developers, sometimes for good reasons. In a sense, we're in a bit of a pickle.