> There's nothing morally wrong with charging market value. How do you define market value? Because for some landlords it seems to be the highest value that s

> There's nothing morally wrong with charging market value. How do you define market value? Because for some landlords it seems to be the highest value that someone will pay to live there. Taken as a collective action - that results in rents continually going up beyond wages. I don't know all the circumstances behind the OP's rent increase - but an ~8x increase seems pretty astounding. Were rental prices left untouched for decades? Was there some major increase in the cost of maintaining the property or land? Has the landlord made significant investments in the facilities or amenities? > My investment finally paid off and you want me to run a charity. So, can you see any room between asking landlords not to be assholes about squeezing tenants for every last cent, and running a charity? That's what I'm asking for - I understand you've put in some risk, you've worked hard to earn money. But your tenants are working hard too. In many cities there's a huge (and growing) demand for properties that are within some reasonable distance to places of employment. Landlords collectively driving up prices beyond wages and other costs results in a huge flow of wealth from the working class to the wealthy. This means someone on what would elsewhere be a fantastic wage, is at best mediocre. Those on lower wages may find they're having to share rooms and eat ramen two hours away from work well into their adult lives just to survive.