5 ms·

You think there is an abundance of empty apartments? Based on what?

southerntofu 5y ago
It's a well-known and studied fact in the global north, keyword "gentrification". For example french government's statistical body INSEE has detailed statistics on that, which claim 2.6M empty dwellings france-wide (not counting secondary housing, and not counting industrial/office space). The "housing crisis" is a scam organized by landowners and public authorities to further land-based speculation. Back when there was last a real housing crisis in Europe after WWII's destructions, governments setup public/social housing programs see for example https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HLM https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HLM When the people with power and privilege actually want to fix something, they can actually do it. There's just no incentive for them to solve the housing problem when they or their friends directly benefit from driving prices upwards. Of course, in the 1940-50s the incentive was the risk of "communism", and most capitalist economies (even the USA under Roosevelt) adopted strong social measures. To give context on that for example, France's communist party had 20-30% of votes in legislative elections at that time. I'm definitely no supporter of the communist party, but i would understand how a third of the country's electorate voting for communists would put pressure on the right-wing to develop social measures and fast.
- bennysomething 5y ago
  Sorry, not being a pedant for the sake of it, where can I actually see some statistics showing confiscating empty dwellings would significantly reduce the prices of houses? I don't buy it. Instead look at Japan and new Zealand, their planning policy acknowledged the simple fact of supply and demand and adapted, taller building with smaller apartments allowed in sought after areas.
  - southerntofu 5y ago
    > where can I actually see some statistics showing confiscating empty dwellings would significantly reduce the prices of houses? I don't know of statistics on that question, however an anecdote: after WII across Europe it became very common for governments and city councils to "requisition" buildings/houses and for people to squat empty dwellings, and that is part of how the housing crisis was faced (alongside public plans for more public housing). There's even a law in France (and to my knowledge in other countries) which says if you've squatted land/house for 20 or more years and paid your local taxes duly, you automatically become owner of that piece of land. > taller building with smaller apartments allowed in sought after areas And then you have a strongly degrading quality of life (everyone living in a small rabbit cage) and suddenly you need to invest billions more in infrastructure. For example, for cities built on ancient mines/swamps, building higher/heavier means you need to reinforce the underground and are always at risk of collapsing buildings/streets. Why try to centralize everything? Why push the agenda of the construction sector/mafia by pretending building anew is the only solution to all our problems? Why pretend they do it to fight homelessness, when the proportion of empty buildings keeps rising alongside the number of homeless folks and new constructions? For the rise of empty buildings, see for example: - https://en.squat.net/2016/05/27/netherlands-housing-crisis/ https://en.squat.net/2016/05/27/netherlands-housing-crisis/ : Netherlands, about empty office space rising in proportion after the squatting ban, and the criminalization of poverty - https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/3572856 https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/3572856 : France, only about housing space ; over 25 years every year, population grew by 0.4%, number of housing units by 1.0%, and number of abandoned housing units by 2.8% ; abandoned housing units is 10% globally, which does not include 6% additional percent of secondary/professional residence Both these stats are official government statistics. Also worth considering, the environmental cost of building new stuff when there's no need. When do we stop? Where do all the materials come from (eg. sand for the concrete)? Infinite growth is madness.

It's a well-known and studied fact in the global north, keyword "gentrification". For example french government's statistical body INSEE has detailed statistics on that, which claim 2.6M empty dwellings france-wide (not counting secondary housing, and not counting industrial/office space). The "housing crisis" is a scam organized by landowners and public authorities to further land-based speculation. Back when there was last a real housing crisis in Europe after WWII's destructions, governments setup public/social housing programs see for example https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HLM https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HLM When the people with power and privilege actually want to fix something, they can actually do it. There's just no incentive for them to solve the housing problem when they or their friends directly benefit from driving prices upwards. Of course, in the 1940-50s the incentive was the risk of "communism", and most capitalist economies (even the USA under Roosevelt) adopted strong social measures. To give context on that for example, France's communist party had 20-30% of votes in legislative elections at that time. I'm definitely no supporter of the communist party, but i would understand how a third of the country's electorate voting for communists would put pressure on the right-wing to develop social measures and fast.

bennysomething 5y ago
Sorry, not being a pedant for the sake of it, where can I actually see some statistics showing confiscating empty dwellings would significantly reduce the prices of houses? I don't buy it. Instead look at Japan and new Zealand, their planning policy acknowledged the simple fact of supply and demand and adapted, taller building with smaller apartments allowed in sought after areas.
- southerntofu 5y ago
  > where can I actually see some statistics showing confiscating empty dwellings would significantly reduce the prices of houses? I don't know of statistics on that question, however an anecdote: after WII across Europe it became very common for governments and city councils to "requisition" buildings/houses and for people to squat empty dwellings, and that is part of how the housing crisis was faced (alongside public plans for more public housing). There's even a law in France (and to my knowledge in other countries) which says if you've squatted land/house for 20 or more years and paid your local taxes duly, you automatically become owner of that piece of land. > taller building with smaller apartments allowed in sought after areas And then you have a strongly degrading quality of life (everyone living in a small rabbit cage) and suddenly you need to invest billions more in infrastructure. For example, for cities built on ancient mines/swamps, building higher/heavier means you need to reinforce the underground and are always at risk of collapsing buildings/streets. Why try to centralize everything? Why push the agenda of the construction sector/mafia by pretending building anew is the only solution to all our problems? Why pretend they do it to fight homelessness, when the proportion of empty buildings keeps rising alongside the number of homeless folks and new constructions? For the rise of empty buildings, see for example: - https://en.squat.net/2016/05/27/netherlands-housing-crisis/ https://en.squat.net/2016/05/27/netherlands-housing-crisis/ : Netherlands, about empty office space rising in proportion after the squatting ban, and the criminalization of poverty - https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/3572856 https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/3572856 : France, only about housing space ; over 25 years every year, population grew by 0.4%, number of housing units by 1.0%, and number of abandoned housing units by 2.8% ; abandoned housing units is 10% globally, which does not include 6% additional percent of secondary/professional residence Both these stats are official government statistics. Also worth considering, the environmental cost of building new stuff when there's no need. When do we stop? Where do all the materials come from (eg. sand for the concrete)? Infinite growth is madness.