Re:Berlin buys thousands of apartments from corporate landlords
by shkkmo on Saturday September 18, 2021 @03:42PM
(#28578676)
> Even if only new luxury apartments are being built, it is more housing that takes pressure off the market.
Luxury housing construction can help, but can't really fix the issue on its own because it is also a relatively inefficient and expensive method of increasing the housing supply (since each added unit has high costs.)
This problem is one that a large number of municipalities have failed to solve. It seems very difficult to get the regulatory and tax incentive structure setup just right to get sufficient affordable housing built in large urban areas.
> As a matter of fact, only big companies have the means to build under such conditions, it is much too risky for smaller entities.
I would think that governments have the scale to take on those risks as well. At some point, I think it makes sense to stop struggling to get privately build affordable housing and do it publicly.
Luxury housing construction can help, but can't really fix the issue on its own because it is also a relatively inefficient and expensive method of increasing the housing supply (since each added unit has high costs.)
This problem is one that a large number of municipalities have failed to solve. It seems very difficult to get the regulatory and tax incentive structure setup just right to get sufficient affordable housing built in large urban areas.
> As a matter of fact, only big companies have the means to build under such conditions, it is much too risky for smaller entities.
I would think that governments have the scale to take on those risks as well. At some point, I think it makes sense to stop struggling to get privately build affordable housing and do it publicly.