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…
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…
In recent years, voters and politicians have increasingly embraced rent control in response to rising housing costs. The resurgence of rent control is an example of democracy in action. Democracy means unlimited majority rule, that the majority may do as it pleases simply because it is the majority. If some individuals are acting in a…
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that a growing number of cities in the bay area are passing rent control laws. Those laws, the headline states, could be a “turning point for the housing crisis.” However, the housing crisis is a supply shortage, and rent control doesn’t build housing. Housing activists believe that more controls and…
Housing activists frequently decry the growing corporate presence in rental housing. The activists fail to realize that the policies they advocate are a significant reason why. Housing activists call for rent control, “right to counsel,” eviction moratoriums, “ban the box,” and numerous other restrictions and mandates that shackle landlords. Activists and tenants are making the…
An Amendment in St. Paul When voters approved one of the nation’s most draconian rent control laws, developers in St. Paul reacted exactly as had been predicted: they halted housing projects. In September, the St. Paul City Council amended the rent control ordinance to exempt properties less than twenty years old. This returns a smidgen…
Government officials in North Las Vegas have come up with a unique solution for homelessness: kick people out of their home and then bulldoze the house. A Nevada non-profit, New Leaf Community, purchased land and erected fifty square foot structures. The tiny houses had a window and locking door. The houses allowed homeless individuals some…
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently announced funding of $113 million for the Family Self-Sufficiency program. The program is a part of HUD’s “economic justice” agenda. When she announced the program, HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge said, We’re looking at everything through a lens of equity and how we address systemic racism….
To paraphrase George Bernard Shaw, “Those who can, do; those who can’t, try to control those who can.” Cea Weaver, a housing activists at New York’s Housing Justice for All is a prime example. Weaver has been a leading voice for tenant “protections” in New York, including a “rent stabilization” law—a euphemism for price controls—passed…
In 2024, voter in Los Angeles will vote on an initiative that would force hotel operators to rent vacant rooms to the city’s homeless. Despite what voters might think, force isn’t the solution to the city’s homeless problem. California has long allowed voters to dictate how property owners can use their property. As a result,…
For years, tenants and housing activists have complained that there is a housing shortage and that “the rent is too damn high.” While failing to tell us what rent would not be “too damn high,” they trot out a variety of proposals which do virtually nothing to increase the housing supply. According to the National…
Attorney and housing activist Randy Shaw provides an interesting example of an unprincipled approach to housing policy. In a piece titled “Upzoning and Rent Control: A Perfect Match,” Shaw proposes giving property owners a tad more freedom at the same time government is tying their hands. Upzoning is the process of modifying a city’s zoning…