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> (b) is the biggest one. It doesn't make second hand unlivable, it just stops putting a premium on things which clearly aren't premium (unlike say Europe). It
by yokoprime 5y ago
> (b) is the biggest one. It doesn't make second hand unlivable, it just stops putting a premium on things which clearly aren't premium (unlike say Europe). It also makes it easier to tear things down in case of future needs, whereas Europe tends to "lock" itself in, creating a market which is very inflexible
Could you elaborate on what this paragraph means? How do we "lock" ourselves in here in Europe? I can go out _today_ buy a rundown house and tear it down. If the cost of renovating it exceeds the cost of building new, it's financially sound to do. Unless i'm buying some historically important building there are zero restrictions.
- BlargMcLarg 5y agoIf you can buy a rundown house, yes. Now place yourself in the shoes of the generation who can't reasonable buy a rundown house in a place close to work, and are expected to commute to work. They are dependent on laws and profit margins for anything to happen. When the profit margins say "building apartments isn't profitable" and the laws say "well whatever", nothing's gonna get torn down for apartments. Turns out when you build things to last and the mentality is that a 30yo house should still be in good shape, there's not a lot of profits to be gained tearing it down and building an apartment complex compared to renovating it a little and selling it to some upper middle class family with more dough to spend. And yes, there are ways around this, e.g. turning that SFH into a sharehouse. Why that isn't happening more is a whole different story.