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The end of landlords: the surprisingly simple solution to the UK housing crisis
(www.theguardian.com)
this post was submitted on 27 Mar 2024
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Work Reform
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A place to discuss positive changes that can make work more equitable, and to vent about current practices. We are NOT against work; we just want the fruits of our labor to be recognized better.
Our Philosophies:
- All workers must be paid a living wage for their labor.
- Income inequality is the main cause of lower living standards.
- Workers must join together and fight back for what is rightfully theirs.
- We must not be divided and conquered. Workers gain the most when they focus on unifying issues.
Our Goals
- Higher wages for underpaid workers.
- Better worker representation, including but not limited to unions.
- Better and fewer working hours.
- Stimulating a massive wave of worker organizing in the United States and beyond.
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YIMBYism works - Tokyo housing is incredibly affordable not because of subsidies but because they just never stopped building more housing.
The problem with American housing is that it's too easy to block.
Unless I'm mistaken the revenue source for property developers is selling the property. They don't give a single fuck about how valuable it is after they've offloaded it.
People like to point to Tokyo as an example of YIMBYism fixing housing affordability, but I am skeptical of this explanation because 1) it fails to explain Japan's spectular property bubble of the 1980s which happened in spite of its government loosening housing policy, and 2) housing prices in Japan are also currently rising and hitting all time highs.
Indeed, it was noted that loose housing policy during the 1980s bubble instead seemed to contribute to higher land and house prices, as developers prioritised office and retail space which had higher margins, at the expense of housing.
Instead, some economists attribute Japan's relative affordability to their general fear in the property market that was leftover from the bubble bursting.
Also, property developers care very much about how valuable it is after they've sold it. This is because the more valuable property is, the higher their margins for future projects.
Why Tokyo’s record property prices are not just another real estate bubble - https://www.ft.com/content/40ce3cdc-5bc3-486f-b9e9-700af1087a65
Power from the Ground Up: Japan’s Land Bubble - https://hbr.org/1990/05/power-from-the-ground-up-japans-land-bubble
Property Finance in Japan: Expansion and Collapse of the Bubble Economy - https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/epdf/10.1068/a260199