6 ms·

Pricing freedom is mandatory for a properly functioning market.

by vecplane 5y ago

seiferteric 5y ago
Government should subsidize rent if they want to help people, not just stick it to landlords.
- partiallypro 5y ago
  and...just make zoning laws not so dictated by real estate investors that benefit from rising property values and to allow more building of housing. Real estate brokers have so much power on local levels it makes Washington look clean.
  - eru 5y ago
    Basically any kind of building is good for affordability. The big problem (in urban US) isn't that the wrong kind of people get to build, but that not enough building gets done. Berlin also doesn't build enough at the moment. I heard that Hamburg has done a better job recently of approving more construction.
- eru 5y ago
  That's not a great idea either. Just hand them money without strings attached. (Though, the German government does subsidies poor people's rent already. It's called Wohngeld.)
  - djbebs 5y ago
    So why are you forcing landlords to do it?
    - eru 5y ago
      I'm neither in favour of rent control nor rent subsidies. Or what do you mean?
est31 5y ago
The government already heavily skews the market by telling land/house owners they may not build on the land they own. Often it's landlords behind this as this keeps supply low, but there are plenty of landlords who would love to invest into new constructions but can't because of the captured government's monopoly on violence. The result can hardly be called a free market. Personally I don't think that restricting rents is a good solution to the problem though. Just allow more construction of affordable housing to happen.
misja111 5y ago
Well yes, but it's not the only requirement. More important is that the market is competitive, i.e. that there is enough supply. And that is the dominating problem in most big cities, there are just not enough houses available. Given a non properly functioning market due to lack of houses, it might be a good idea to introduce regulation to shift the consequences of the imbalance to those who can bear it the easiest.
- JAlexoid 5y ago
  No way! The same people who demand rent controls, then turn around and demand that no new housing is built in their area. Then they moan about low salaries, because Google's and Amazon's aren't bringing in the high paying talent to their cities. People like that are architects of their own demise. Out of personal experience - rent control, development ban and anti-gentrification advocates are xenophobes that just hate the world changing around them. I've been on the receiving end of these policies, as I moved around EU from Lithuania. These people just hate anyone messing with their vibe.

Pricing freedom is mandatory for a properly functioning market.

seiferteric 5y ago

Government should subsidize rent if they want to help people, not just stick it to landlords.

partiallypro 5y ago
and...just make zoning laws not so dictated by real estate investors that benefit from rising property values and to allow more building of housing. Real estate brokers have so much power on local levels it makes Washington look clean.
- eru 5y ago
  Basically any kind of building is good for affordability. The big problem (in urban US) isn't that the wrong kind of people get to build, but that not enough building gets done. Berlin also doesn't build enough at the moment. I heard that Hamburg has done a better job recently of approving more construction.
eru 5y ago
That's not a great idea either. Just hand them money without strings attached. (Though, the German government does subsidies poor people's rent already. It's called Wohngeld.)
- djbebs 5y ago
  So why are you forcing landlords to do it?
  - eru 5y ago
    I'm neither in favour of rent control nor rent subsidies. Or what do you mean?

est31 5y ago

The government already heavily skews the market by telling land/house owners they may not build on the land they own. Often it's landlords behind this as this keeps supply low, but there are plenty of landlords who would love to invest into new constructions but can't because of the captured government's monopoly on violence. The result can hardly be called a free market. Personally I don't think that restricting rents is a good solution to the problem though. Just allow more construction of affordable housing to happen.

misja111 5y ago

Well yes, but it's not the only requirement. More important is that the market is competitive, i.e. that there is enough supply. And that is the dominating problem in most big cities, there are just not enough houses available. Given a non properly functioning market due to lack of houses, it might be a good idea to introduce regulation to shift the consequences of the imbalance to those who can bear it the easiest.

JAlexoid 5y ago
No way! The same people who demand rent controls, then turn around and demand that no new housing is built in their area. Then they moan about low salaries, because Google's and Amazon's aren't bringing in the high paying talent to their cities. People like that are architects of their own demise. Out of personal experience - rent control, development ban and anti-gentrification advocates are xenophobes that just hate the world changing around them. I've been on the receiving end of these policies, as I moved around EU from Lithuania. These people just hate anyone messing with their vibe.