A better option is to regulate rental housing, as in Europe: cap the amount and frequency of rent increases, restrict evictions, and give tenants reasonable rights such as decorating and keeping pets. In such an environment, large corporate landlords, who have economies of scale and staff to handle obligations such as maintenance, can work better than many small landlords.
I don’t buy it, corporations are too inherently profit seeking, malevolent, and politically organized for that to not go wrong over time in ways that are resistant to regulation. Measures like use and ownership restriction would be much more effective than rent control because they would actually suppress demand (in monetary terms) by cutting off large pools of capital from accessing the market as an investment or store of wealth. Combine it with measures to directly increase the supply of housing where it’s needed and prices will go down on their own.
For maintenance issues it would be better to give tenants the rights to make minor repairs themselves without the risk of losing their deposit or being sued if it is not otherwise being handled and enable them to deduct any expense from their rent, especially if this is about single family houses rather than apartment buildings.
A better option is to regulate rental housing, as in Europe: cap the amount and frequency of rent increases, restrict evictions, and give tenants reasonable rights such as decorating and keeping pets. In such an environment, large corporate landlords, who have economies of scale and staff to handle obligations such as maintenance, can work better than many small landlords.
I don’t buy it, corporations are too inherently profit seeking, malevolent, and politically organized for that to not go wrong over time in ways that are resistant to regulation. Measures like use and ownership restriction would be much more effective than rent control because they would actually suppress demand (in monetary terms) by cutting off large pools of capital from accessing the market as an investment or store of wealth. Combine it with measures to directly increase the supply of housing where it’s needed and prices will go down on their own.
For maintenance issues it would be better to give tenants the rights to make minor repairs themselves without the risk of losing their deposit or being sued if it is not otherwise being handled and enable them to deduct any expense from their rent, especially if this is about single family houses rather than apartment buildings.