Canada

BC.

Rent controls don't work, I agree. As do most economists.

The rents in Calgary haven't dropped because of new rental supply though, you have that idea wrong, the rents have dropped because the economy is down. Rents are down in Vancouver too by almost 7%. The supply has barely changed in either location.

Everyone keeps talking about supply solving the issue, but the market keeps actually changing because of demand, it's impossible to build enough supply fast enough to impact the markets significantly, only by changing the demand can you have a significant impact.

Which is where the government owning the property comes in, the demand for housing isn't actually coming from people needing places to live. It's from investors who are buying up properties because they know that people HAVE to live somewhere. If the government owned the land, that speculation goes away almost entirely because it's no longer profitable. The land values all drop off a cliff, and housing becomes affordable again.

If there's one thing we don't lack in Canada, it's space. The problem is the allocation of it, when Bob and Jane own 3/4 of an acre downtown, and live in their 5 bedroom place by themselves now that the kids all left. That's the problem. Fuck them, force them to either pay to have that privledge or give up the property so it can be redeveloped to fit 8 families. If they want 3/4 of an acre they can live outside the city.