If you have a problem that affects 10 million people, and you build 100,000 units. Have you alleviated anything?
The simple answer is no.
You’re right that solving the housing crisis is going to take time and a whole lot of changes. The problem is that none of the changes we’re making right now will do a damn thing but prolong the suffering. The whole lot of changes that will actually fix it will happen once the ownership rate has dropped so much that enough people are willing to actually harm (economically hopefully) the remaining landlords. That process is going to take decades.
The simple way to understand this is by doing some math. There are already more bedrooms in this country than there are citizens, by a reasonable margin. (You can confirm this with numbers from statscan if you want). Given that lots of people share bedrooms (couples, children, etc.) that means we don’t actually have a supply issue with housing. We have a demand and distribution issue.
If you have a problem that affects 10 million people, and you build 100,000 units. Have you alleviated anything?
The simple answer is no.
You’re right that solving the housing crisis is going to take time and a whole lot of changes. The problem is that none of the changes we’re making right now will do a damn thing but prolong the suffering. The whole lot of changes that will actually fix it will happen once the ownership rate has dropped so much that enough people are willing to actually harm (economically hopefully) the remaining landlords. That process is going to take decades.
The simple way to understand this is by doing some math. There are already more bedrooms in this country than there are citizens, by a reasonable margin. (You can confirm this with numbers from statscan if you want). Given that lots of people share bedrooms (couples, children, etc.) that means we don’t actually have a supply issue with housing. We have a demand and distribution issue.