The alternative is housing cooperatives. Basically, a non-profit that owns the property(ies) and is democratically operated by the tenants. Tenants still sign c

The alternative is housing cooperatives. Basically, a non-profit that owns the property(ies) and is democratically operated by the tenants. Tenants still sign contracts and pay rent, but there's no landlord. Some cooperatives, if they're large enough or have the funds, even have employees that do all the work that a landlord normally would. I'd love to live in a world where all residential property is owner-occupied, owned by cooperatives, or maybe public housing. Just take the rent-seeking behavior and speculation out of the equation entirely.