Land should be regulated this way, but it isn't, because of the hangover (in europe) of medieval norms where landlords were essentially gangsters extracting protection money, or (in america) the essential abundance of land available for the taking[0].
If you have an expanding frontier, a fixed quantity (land) behaves like a growing quantity, so there isn't the intense pressure for land reform you got in europe. Except now, the land is all taken, so the regulatory regime which worked for a growing supply of land becomes increasingly dysfunctional, leading to problems with homelessness and tenant impoverishment, where people are paying increasing quantities of their income (50% +) to landlords, not because those landlords provide them with a good service, or because the landlords have high costs, but because it's their only choice.
[0] Obviously, the first nations population massively lost out in this.
I see all of these as problems with zoning. I could also rant about rent control but it has a much smaller effect compared to the prevention of construction and density.
Land should be regulated this way, but it isn't, because of the hangover (in europe) of medieval norms where landlords were essentially gangsters extracting protection money, or (in america) the essential abundance of land available for the taking[0].
If you have an expanding frontier, a fixed quantity (land) behaves like a growing quantity, so there isn't the intense pressure for land reform you got in europe. Except now, the land is all taken, so the regulatory regime which worked for a growing supply of land becomes increasingly dysfunctional, leading to problems with homelessness and tenant impoverishment, where people are paying increasing quantities of their income (50% +) to landlords, not because those landlords provide them with a good service, or because the landlords have high costs, but because it's their only choice.
[0] Obviously, the first nations population massively lost out in this.
My hesitation is that would be a total rewrite, and we have a system that works pretty well where we could remove some market distortions and have it working really well. Remove residential zoning restrictions and landlords will build, there is incentive for it. So much of LA is zoned for SFH+ADU, and your neighbors will sue you if you get creative. There is no room in the zoning code for low end housing. I read about these men's hotels [1] and I don't think you can build something like that anymore, something that addresses a need at a price point people can afford. It sounds crass but we need tenements, so someone who is barely scraping by has a bed, an address, and a shower.
There is nothing besides legacy rent control units at the $500/mo price point in LA. There should be. We shouldn't rely on rent control, where we privatize the costs of a social problem and give landlords a huge incentive to get people out. We should just build some livable shit.
1. https://newrepublic.com/article/161808/ewing-annex-hotel-hou...