Housing is both a human right and a profitable asset, and that’s the problem

Re:Housing is both a human right and a profitable asset, and... by klyrs on Friday December 17, 2021 @01:19PM (#29596034)

I'm not surprised to see this happening. Quite a few friends of mine have moved to Montreal, precisely because they couldn't afford to live in Vancouver. I know folks in Toronto who have witnessed the same. A city can only absorb so much of the country's supply problem until it's overwhelmed by demand -- and then it turns into a "hot market" with all the drawbacks that entails.

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Re:Housing is both a human right and a profitable asset, and... by hellojesus on Friday December 17, 2021 @04:39PM (#29598663)

The people moving in these examples are doing precisely what they should be: moving to somewhere they can afford.

They've been priced out of the market, and that's okay. This process is exactly what grows populations in other cities.

Without private property ownership, the entire rental market would cease to exist. Often people purchase homes in disrepair, fix them up, and rent them out. The rental income is precisely what incentivizes this process. If there was no yield, people wouldn't do this and there would be even less housing available.

Anecdotally, I believe in Amsterdam there are restrictions such as a house can't remain vacant for more than x months. There may be some merit to that, but I still really dislike it. It basically says "you don't own your private property".

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