In February, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu unveiled a rent control plan. Wu’s proposal quickly drew criticism. Real estate interests oppose the plan, while Leftists argue that it isn’t strong enough. This is shaping up to be a classic example of how the Left shifts the debate. Wu’s proposal allows for rent increases of 6 percent…
Politicians, pundits, and housing activists have offered a variety of policies for making housing more affordable. While many admit that building affordable housing for low-income households isn’t profitable, virtually nobody recognizes the fact that the profit motive is the solution to the housing crisis. A statement from the president of the National Multifamily Housing Council…
In defending her rent control proposal, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said, “The status quo is not working.” She is correct. However, her solution to the problems caused by forcing individuals to act contrary to their own judgment is to force individuals to act contrary to their own judgment. Zoning laws serve as one example. In…
Altruism can raise its ugly head in myriad, and often surprising, ways. An example comes from, Desiree Lim, an assistant professor of philosophy at Penn State. In an article titled “The ethics of home ownership in an age of growing inequality,” she asserts that “[h]omebuyers also have ethical obligations to others.” Lim goes on to…
The opponents of rent control rarely take a moral stand on the issue. They fail to identify rent control as a violation of the right to property—the freedom to produce and trade. Instead, they focus on economic arguments. Rent control, they say, discourages the production of housing and makes maintenance more difficult. While these arguments…
In early January, fifty Democrat members of Congress sent a letter to President Biden. The letter urged him to “to pursue all possible strategies to end corporate price gouging in the real estate Sector….” The letter recommends seven actions Biden can take. Among the most significant is directing the Federal Housing Finance Agency to establish…
In 2015, Hennepin County, Minnesota, seized a condominium for $15,000 in unpaid property taxes. A year later, the condominium was sold for $40,000. The county kept all of the money in an act that many call home equity theft. The condo owner sued and the US Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit ruled for…
From Britain comes an interesting, though implicit, admission that Leftists do not value the producers. Vicky Spratt, the “housing correspondent” for i (an online newspaper published by the Daily Mail), calls for a housing strike. She argues that strikes force all of us–those in power and those who take the train or use the NHS…
Early in the pandemic, Los Angeles (along with many other cities around the country) enacted an eviction moratorium. That moratorium is set to expire at the end of this month, nearly three years after it was first imposed on landlords. The Los Angeles Times opines that the city should continue existing “tenant protections” and add…
On January 1, in response to rapidly rising housing costs, it became illegal for most foreigners to purchase a home in Canada. Last year, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s website proclaimed that “homes are for people, not investors.” According to Trudeau, investors are nothing more than greedy individuals who put profits before people. Not surprisingly, nothing…
Santa Ana recently became the first city in Orange County, California to enact rent control. The city plans to create a registry of all rental properties in the city. Landlords are required to register their properties with the city and pay an annual fee. Apparently, Santa Ana public officials have been drinking the Kool-Aid of…
The city of Elizabeth, New Jersey, recently capped rent increases to 3 percent. The previous cap limited rent increases to $20 or 3 percent, whichever is lower. Tenants and housing activists are unhappy. One activist said, This decision to increase the rental cap, which protects its more vulnerable tenants, shows how the city protects developers…