Do you think we will ever have affordable housing again in our lifetime?
Considering how crazy expensive accommodations have become the last couple of years, concentrated in the hands of greedy corporations, landlords and how little politicians seem to care about this problem, do you think we will ever experience a real estate market crash that would bring those exorbitant prices back to Earth?
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Depends if the next pandemic kills 50% of the world's population.
It's all based on supply and demand. There is not enough housing for everyone to have one at a price they can afford. The price depends entirely on what the wealthiest buyers are prepared to pay, or rather what a bank is prepared to lend them. It is nothing to do with how much the land or bricks and mortar are worth.
The only way you'll get a price drop is if the amount of properties go up or the demand drops.
We've had long periods of <1% interest rates. We've normalised 40 year mortgages. We've invented "shared ownership" schemes and "help for first time buyers". None of this has bought the prices down. It's done the opposite and blown them into the stratosphere.
It's not only supply and demand, on some countries there's more empty houses than homeless people, rich people and banks rather leave the houses empty than lower rent or price, governments should step in and tax empty houses.
Yes, but that will only help the homeless if they spend all that tax money (and more) on mental health care and addiction therapy.
Spoiler: That's not where it will go.
Also a lot of these empty houses are in places where nobody in their right mind would want to live even if it were free. There's a little bit of rich people squatting on "investment" property or holiday homes, but it's not the majority.
Except for the first time housing prices and availability are more to blame for homelessness than mental health.
https://www.cato.org/briefing-paper/housing-markets-first-housing-supply-affordability-are-key-reducing-homelessness#:~:text=In%20a%20recent%20book%2C%20authors,substance%20abuse%2C%20or%20poverty%20measures.
So... you say they're perfect for the mentally ill homeless? 🧐