MyStackRunnethOver t1_it7qdoy wrote on October 21, 2022 at 3:22 PM

Reply to comment by AbigailFlippinfloppn in Proposal would ban more than 3 college students from living together in Providence by SwimmerNos

Homeless people are not the only ones demanding housing. So are all the people who would like to live in Providence but can’t afford to, the people living in Providence with parents and roommates who would like to but can’t afford to move out, and families who would like to move into a bigger place, but can’t afford to upsize

The rental vacancy rate in RI overall in 2021 was 2.8%. That’s likely lower in Providence itself. A healthy rate is usually ~5%, below which rents tend to rise. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/RIRVAC

All of the classes above benefit from cheaper, more available housing. The way to make housing cheaper is to build more of it

AbigailFlippinfloppn t1_it7tcpf wrote on October 21, 2022 at 3:41 PM

Or ban rent seeking, ownership of a non primary residence (second/vacation homes), and corporate ownership of residences🤷‍♂️

Ya know, actually change things?

MyStackRunnethOver t1_it8nuzp wrote on October 21, 2022 at 7:04 PM

I don't disagree that reforming property ownership would make it so that investors (of various sizes) can't take advantage of housing scarcity to earn obscene rents.

However, even doing that still doesn't solve the problem of housing supply-demand mismatch. When housing construction lags population growth for decades there is going to be scarcity no matter what - and that lag in construction is thanks to decades of local, state, and federal support for discriminatory zoning and inefficient property tax policies, fueled by racism and classism.

The landlords are just riding the wave which our governments and zoning boards have prepared for them by attempting to freeze our cities in 1965.

With a sub-5% vacancy rate, if prices fall by half overnight, everyone who currently can't afford a home just won't be able to find a home. The good news is that fixing the supply side lowers prices, takes away those massive rents, and along with them the incentive for rental conversions and speculative purchases.