To solve the housing crisis we need to turn away from neoliberal doctrines and look towards solutions that actually work. Our own history, as well as the experiences of our contemporaries abroad, teach us that the only way to restore housing affordability is to create non-market housing alternatives that anchor prices and push the investor class out of the housing system.
They had a social housing program and then the 80’s happened with its global union of conservative government and unfettered capitalism.
But the NHS is not the FHAP. The NHS sees housing exclusively through the lens of supply-and-demand. The theory is that if enough homes can be built prices will go down. To build units quickly the NHS funnels money primarily to developers who, in turns out, have been selling their builds to speculators of all sizes. These market-oriented solutions have backfired. Since the launch of the NHS housing prices have continued to rise.
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The evidence is clear: Canada’s housing crisis is not a simple supply and demand problem. It is a problem of who owns our homes and why. By focusing almost exclusively on expanding supply through the private sector the NHS has given our housing system over to predaceous investors while deeply indebting everyday Canadians.
I’ve been saying this for so long. People are screaming that we need to build more and with more supply the prices will go down. But no. Only a fraction of the population has the means to purchase these new homes anyway so they still end up in the hands of predaceous investors and landlords who keep exploiting the market through speculation.
From a little higher up in the article:
The FHAP encompassed a series of programs which deployed government resources to address the housing crisis through non-market solutions. The most important of these was the construction of social housing.
From 1972 onward, between 10-20 percent of all housing built in Canada was public, non-profit, or co-operative owned. These units came with various affordability covenants that anchored prices. Suddenly, private landlords had to compete with a robust public sector that prioritized affordability instead of wealth extraction, lowering costs for everyone.
But there was more to the FHAP than the construction of non-market housing. Renters could have their monthly payments subsidized through the Assisted Rental Program (ARP). Low-income folks who wanted to own a home could secure below-market rate mortgages directly from the federal government, or have their private mortgages subsidized through the Assisted Home Ownership Program (AHOP).
That’s how you fix it. Take it out of the hands of the greedy fuckers that are speculating housing like it’s fucking bitcoin and put it in the hands of the people.
They had a social housing program and then the 80’s happened with its global union of conservative government and unfettered capitalism.
…
I’ve been saying this for so long. People are screaming that we need to build more and with more supply the prices will go down. But no. Only a fraction of the population has the means to purchase these new homes anyway so they still end up in the hands of predaceous investors and landlords who keep exploiting the market through speculation.
From a little higher up in the article:
That’s how you fix it. Take it out of the hands of the greedy fuckers that are speculating housing like it’s fucking bitcoin and put it in the hands of the people.
God willing! I just don’t know if it can happen with the neoliberal system straining due to third world development.