There are literally amendments to the Constitution preventing this from happening have you all lost your mind!
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Canada instantly bursting in flames
why do you hate me so?
While I'm all for making it harder to just sit on housing, the "more empty homes than homeless" this, while technically true, is very misleading, and I wouldn't want to try to force unhoused folks into the empty homes without a lot more pruning.
In-demand places don't typically have much in the way of empty homes, as it doesn't typically make financial sense not to rent them out. Empty homes in places like this are generally in between tenants or on the market to be sold. Meanwhile, there are places with huge numbers of empty homes, typically because of population drain. The homes sit empty not because someone's hoarding them, but because people don't want to move to places like Cairo, Illinois.
The statistic, whilst technically true, doesn't take into account demographic and population changes. People want to live in places with vibrant economies and lots of job opportunities, and that's not typically where the huge supply of empty homes is. So we can't just redistribute our way out of this problem. Building, and especially infill in cities, is absolutely necessary in huge quantities.
People want to live in places with vibrant economies and lots of job opportunities
Homelessness does not exist on this tier of Maslow's hierarchy.
Hey, I just rented my property for exactly what the council rates and body corporate expenses are. A $160 pw home. Not even a mark up to cover repairs etc, because capital gain will more than cover that. I did it because I hate what is happening in housing currently, especially for young buyers. Now my new tenant wants to delay moving in for 3 weeks, and not pay any rent during that time. /sigh....what scum I am....
try 100%. housing should be covered by taxes.
People have vacant home??? Where?
There are 15 million vacant in the US: https://usafacts.org/articles/how-many-vacant-homes-are-there-in-the-us/
...since gross vacancy rate is a measure of all vacant properties — including vacation properties — states with several popular tourist destinations, like Florida and Hawaii, will always register slightly higher rates. The Census Bureau notes that the largest category of vacant housing in the United States is classified as “seasonal, recreational, or occasional use.” In over one-fifth of US counties, these seasonal units made up at least 50% of the vacant housing stock.
Is the movement now to ban vacation homes?
Also note that California, with the worst housing crisis, has one of the lowest vacancy rates, while Maine, Alaska, and Hawaii have among the highest rates. There's not a housing shortage on average, there's a housing shortage in the places people want to live - which largely means the places where they can get jobs.