Based on currently available numbers, there are about 31 vacant housing units for every homeless person in the U.S.
this post was submitted on 10 Jul 2024
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Take it a step further - decommodify all housing.
There is no valid reason why a handful of people should be allowed to own more than they could ever use, specifically so they can use the surplus to extort massive profits from others just trying to survive.
Housing is a human right, it's time we demand it be treated as such.
I like the idea and I've advocated for it in the past. There's one problem though- what about people who need to rent? Someone needs to own that property.
No one is stopping Grandma Susan from renting out her basement to pay bills. This is about commercial landlords.
I regret to report that plenty of people are stopping Grandma Susan from doing just that. Many municipalities in the U.S. forbid unrelated people from living in the same household to prevent roommate arrangements, and they also outlaw accessory dwelling units like basement apartments. American zoning laws are a nightmare.
citation requested.
My own city only recently lifted a regulation like that:
https://www.wpr.org/economy/madison-common-council-eases-zoning-limits-unrelated-people-renting-homes-together
The specifics will change depending on the locality, of course, but these regulations are fairly common.
from the article you posted:
In more than a third of the city, the existing zoning restrictions prohibited any more than two unrelated tenants from living together in homes not occupied by the owner.
so two unrelated people can live together fine. And this only applies to that third of the city, the remaining 2/3rds do not have this restriction.
I know it's less than the ideal, which would be them minding their own fucking business, but the statement I replied to is inaccurate - in your case, grandma could rent out her basement, she just can't rent out the guest room, basement and MIL shack out back, IF she's in that one third of Madison covered by that reg.
IF__*
Like I said, there's plenty of variations on this theme across different cities. No matter if the original comment was correct in every detail or not, the general principle was correct.
so you assert, but I'm not actually finding a lot to support the thesis.
a few cities, or parts of cities, have some form of restriction, but it appears that most do not and even the cities that do, do not have a universal ban themselves.
I suspect Madison has this restriction on residences primarily nearby the Uni to prevent kids from crowding in over-occupancy to be honest.