3 ms·

Surely a rent cap is a clear sign that there is demand though?

southerntofu 6y ago
A rent cap is a clear sign that the capitalist system is broken and we need a better system to match the housing needs and supply without feeding into heartless vampires who'd rather have empty apartments than rent them at a reasonable price.
- EdwinLarkin 6y ago
  Quite the opposite actually.Increase capitalism and reduce government control and you get more housing.
  - crumbshot 6y ago
    That's not how it turned out in the UK. As this graph illustrates, when the local government authorities were prohibited from building more housing, from the 1980s onwards, the private sector didn't pick up any of the slack: https://i.stack.imgur.com/MmJ5N.png https://i.stack.imgur.com/MmJ5N.png The capitalists instead decided to optimize for steadily increasing the price of housing by restricting supply, so these are now primarily seen as an investment with nearly-guaranteed returns, rather than places for people to live.
    - southerntofu 6y ago
      Another piece of data, from the Netherlands, where office space vacancy has significantly increased since making squatting illegal back in 2010: https://en.squat.net/2016/05/27/netherlands-housing-crisis/ https://en.squat.net/2016/05/27/netherlands-housing-crisis/
    - UncleSlacky 6y ago
      > an investment with nearly-guaranteed returns, rather than places for people to live. Or "magic coin-shitting machines", as Charlie Brooker so pithily put it.
  - southerntofu 6y ago
    Yes, as we can see from the very great examples of where this approach worked perfectly. Now every one is perfectly housed in decent conditions and for cheap in United States or South Korea. We all know the dozens of thousands of homeless folks in San Francisco and around really want to live in slums or on the streets, and their situation has nothing to do with speculation, gentrification and AirBNB. /s
    - EdwinLarkin 6y ago
      Are you South Korean? What do you know about South Korea's real estate? Either way I would say housing in Japan (considering all the constraints) seems to work great.
      - southerntofu 6y ago
        > Are you South Korean? What do you know about South Korea's real estate? No. Very little. Just read articles over the years saying they are facing similar issues of real-estate bubble and speculation and that prices in Seoul are getting close to those of New York.
      - llampx 6y ago
        And what does that have to do with the price of tea in China?
oleganza 6y ago
I think the discussion of the rent cap is more complex. In every city there's some distribution of wealth and there are plenty of people who are sensitive to rent. Then, gov orders businesses to shut down, a lot of people lose money, then gov starts playing games with various ways to buy love of voters, rent cap is one of those things. Similarly, minimum wage is typically bumped after inflation already made its way, so most of the people are over the threshold anyway and won't be thrown out of their jobs. And those who will — are valuable voters who can be made highly dependent on state unemployment programs.

A rent cap is a clear sign that the capitalist system is broken and we need a better system to match the housing needs and supply without feeding into heartless vampires who'd rather have empty apartments than rent them at a reasonable price.

EdwinLarkin 6y ago
Quite the opposite actually.Increase capitalism and reduce government control and you get more housing.
- crumbshot 6y ago
  That's not how it turned out in the UK. As this graph illustrates, when the local government authorities were prohibited from building more housing, from the 1980s onwards, the private sector didn't pick up any of the slack: https://i.stack.imgur.com/MmJ5N.png https://i.stack.imgur.com/MmJ5N.png The capitalists instead decided to optimize for steadily increasing the price of housing by restricting supply, so these are now primarily seen as an investment with nearly-guaranteed returns, rather than places for people to live.
  - southerntofu 6y ago
    Another piece of data, from the Netherlands, where office space vacancy has significantly increased since making squatting illegal back in 2010: https://en.squat.net/2016/05/27/netherlands-housing-crisis/ https://en.squat.net/2016/05/27/netherlands-housing-crisis/
  - UncleSlacky 6y ago
    > an investment with nearly-guaranteed returns, rather than places for people to live. Or "magic coin-shitting machines", as Charlie Brooker so pithily put it.
- southerntofu 6y ago
  Yes, as we can see from the very great examples of where this approach worked perfectly. Now every one is perfectly housed in decent conditions and for cheap in United States or South Korea. We all know the dozens of thousands of homeless folks in San Francisco and around really want to live in slums or on the streets, and their situation has nothing to do with speculation, gentrification and AirBNB. /s
  - EdwinLarkin 6y ago
    Are you South Korean? What do you know about South Korea's real estate? Either way I would say housing in Japan (considering all the constraints) seems to work great.
    - southerntofu 6y ago
      > Are you South Korean? What do you know about South Korea's real estate? No. Very little. Just read articles over the years saying they are facing similar issues of real-estate bubble and speculation and that prices in Seoul are getting close to those of New York.
    - llampx 6y ago
      And what does that have to do with the price of tea in China?

oleganza 6y ago

I think the discussion of the rent cap is more complex. In every city there's some distribution of wealth and there are plenty of people who are sensitive to rent. Then, gov orders businesses to shut down, a lot of people lose money, then gov starts playing games with various ways to buy love of voters, rent cap is one of those things. Similarly, minimum wage is typically bumped after inflation already made its way, so most of the people are over the threshold anyway and won't be thrown out of their jobs. And those who will — are valuable voters who can be made highly dependent on state unemployment programs.