There needs to be a cap placed on what new landlords can charge for an apartment/rental unit. Because there is no law addressing this problem. Shady new landlords come in, and bully and harass current tenants to move, and then triple the rent all for the cost of a new coat of paint. This is why rent has skyrocketed, because no government is holding owners/landlords accountable for their greed.
Agree Ashley that keeping rent in reach of earnings is part of the solution. But getting control of housing prices more generally is also necessary, as rising land costs drives up rents as well as purchase prices. That's why Gen Squeeze argues that home prices stalling is the right goal for the housing system. It's interesting that we can more easily have a conversation in Canada about controlling market rents than we can about controlling market home ownership.
I think its easier too talk about rent because most people feel housing is unattainable when we pay exorbant amounts of rent.
The majority of people who rent are terrified of becoming homeless, and stalling housing prices is useless, if we can't afford to rent. I absolutely agree we need both, but saving up for a down-payment will never be an option if our rent is constantly raised. There needs to be a fight on both fronts.
Agree with you here Ashley - ownership seems too far away for many for them to feel that it is worth talking about.
One thing I would point out is that stalling prices (which now seems attainable but no one would've belived to be possible just a couple of years ago) mean less of a chance rents keep rising (since rents and prices are somewhat correlated, as Andrea mentioned). But absolutely, as you said, we need to focus on both.
Just the consequences of many in a generation deciding not to have kids is huge in terms of Canada staying a productive nation. Plus we will loose talent to other nations that have more affordable housing. Not to mention the damage done psychologically to young people. Making them claw so hard for so long will tend to make them a less generous and more cynical generation.
Thank you, Kareem. I will give it a careful look. Generosity-fairness-breeds more generosity and fairness. A healthier more balanced society. Short-term thinking rules the day, rather in investing in what matters most in both the short term and long term for society. In our silos of immediate transactions, we fail to see the unconnected interdependent real world. I argue in my book that we are a short- term transactional people. We are primarily consumers. We are a consumer society rather than a civics society. We are organized around corporate structures and ideology. Even in our siloed departments in our universities...in our siloed bureaucracies of government. Since the 1960's nobody gets at our narrow consumerism more consistently than Ralph Nader. His 2016 book Breaking Through Power is a practical guide for citizenship that Generation Squeeze could benefit from. He offers ways that organizations-small groups can get attention and responses from elected politicians and media. He should know! He has had huge impact. Citizen Nader is probably North America’s wisest warrior against our anti-civics' society.
Couldnt agree more with your assesment about the state of our society Glen...
Your comment is so timely...recently at GenSqueeze we have been thinking a lot about how to gain some more widespread attention/traction. I just bought a copy of Nader's book - excited to give it a read and hope it gives me some ides we can use. We would welcome any advice you might have, you seem to know a lot about this stuff!
Great to hear Kareem. I am thinking generation squeeze is probably strong enough for some boots on the ground meetings with politicians. Minister Fraser according to Steve Lafluer's article referenced in a post today sounds like he means business and is going after affordable housing with some gusto. A meeting with him lead by Paul and you and more might be a solid step. Perhaps a media event after such a meeting with as many Gen Squeeze as possible. Paul is great with the media...more boots on the ground and media attention is what I sense is needed. I was heartened today to read about Fraser. The right man at the right time? Trudeau and the Liberals also desperately need a win.
Alas, we don’t need data or Harvard studies to know that if we selfishly squeeze one generation and make them claw-scrape for scraps we will get reactionary selfish politics from that generation. People voted for Trump because they were squeezed out. Corporate Democrats shut down Bernie Sanders Campaign-which was winning the primaries because Bernie threatened corporate concentrated wealth. Both the corporate Democrats and the corporate Republicans feared a fairer redistribution of wealth. Our Conservative politicians in Canada are copying Trumps “winning” formula. Government-governance is the problem-reduce the government and cut red tape. The Trudeau Government-The NDP-The Greens will lose out to this too unless they enact and argue for policies reduce the squeeze. It is that simple. But what we are up against is very hard to break through. We have a corporately structured-governed society and a societal corporate ideology.
There needs to be a cap placed on what new landlords can charge for an apartment/rental unit. Because there is no law addressing this problem. Shady new landlords come in, and bully and harass current tenants to move, and then triple the rent all for the cost of a new coat of paint. This is why rent has skyrocketed, because no government is holding owners/landlords accountable for their greed.
Agree Ashley that keeping rent in reach of earnings is part of the solution. But getting control of housing prices more generally is also necessary, as rising land costs drives up rents as well as purchase prices. That's why Gen Squeeze argues that home prices stalling is the right goal for the housing system. It's interesting that we can more easily have a conversation in Canada about controlling market rents than we can about controlling market home ownership.
I think its easier too talk about rent because most people feel housing is unattainable when we pay exorbant amounts of rent.
The majority of people who rent are terrified of becoming homeless, and stalling housing prices is useless, if we can't afford to rent. I absolutely agree we need both, but saving up for a down-payment will never be an option if our rent is constantly raised. There needs to be a fight on both fronts.
Agree with you here Ashley - ownership seems too far away for many for them to feel that it is worth talking about.
One thing I would point out is that stalling prices (which now seems attainable but no one would've belived to be possible just a couple of years ago) mean less of a chance rents keep rising (since rents and prices are somewhat correlated, as Andrea mentioned). But absolutely, as you said, we need to focus on both.
Just the consequences of many in a generation deciding not to have kids is huge in terms of Canada staying a productive nation. Plus we will loose talent to other nations that have more affordable housing. Not to mention the damage done psychologically to young people. Making them claw so hard for so long will tend to make them a less generous and more cynical generation.
Excatly, Glen...there are so many ways that this is damanging.
I think you are really on to something with your last bit about how people that have to claw so hard will be less generous. At GenSqueeze, we have been discussing this article, that talks about research on that exact topic: https://davidcoletto.substack.com/p/a-zero-sum-mindset-and-canadian-politics
I think you will find it interesting.
Thank you, Kareem. I will give it a careful look. Generosity-fairness-breeds more generosity and fairness. A healthier more balanced society. Short-term thinking rules the day, rather in investing in what matters most in both the short term and long term for society. In our silos of immediate transactions, we fail to see the unconnected interdependent real world. I argue in my book that we are a short- term transactional people. We are primarily consumers. We are a consumer society rather than a civics society. We are organized around corporate structures and ideology. Even in our siloed departments in our universities...in our siloed bureaucracies of government. Since the 1960's nobody gets at our narrow consumerism more consistently than Ralph Nader. His 2016 book Breaking Through Power is a practical guide for citizenship that Generation Squeeze could benefit from. He offers ways that organizations-small groups can get attention and responses from elected politicians and media. He should know! He has had huge impact. Citizen Nader is probably North America’s wisest warrior against our anti-civics' society.
Couldnt agree more with your assesment about the state of our society Glen...
Your comment is so timely...recently at GenSqueeze we have been thinking a lot about how to gain some more widespread attention/traction. I just bought a copy of Nader's book - excited to give it a read and hope it gives me some ides we can use. We would welcome any advice you might have, you seem to know a lot about this stuff!
Great to hear Kareem. I am thinking generation squeeze is probably strong enough for some boots on the ground meetings with politicians. Minister Fraser according to Steve Lafluer's article referenced in a post today sounds like he means business and is going after affordable housing with some gusto. A meeting with him lead by Paul and you and more might be a solid step. Perhaps a media event after such a meeting with as many Gen Squeeze as possible. Paul is great with the media...more boots on the ground and media attention is what I sense is needed. I was heartened today to read about Fraser. The right man at the right time? Trudeau and the Liberals also desperately need a win.
Alas, we don’t need data or Harvard studies to know that if we selfishly squeeze one generation and make them claw-scrape for scraps we will get reactionary selfish politics from that generation. People voted for Trump because they were squeezed out. Corporate Democrats shut down Bernie Sanders Campaign-which was winning the primaries because Bernie threatened corporate concentrated wealth. Both the corporate Democrats and the corporate Republicans feared a fairer redistribution of wealth. Our Conservative politicians in Canada are copying Trumps “winning” formula. Government-governance is the problem-reduce the government and cut red tape. The Trudeau Government-The NDP-The Greens will lose out to this too unless they enact and argue for policies reduce the squeeze. It is that simple. But what we are up against is very hard to break through. We have a corporately structured-governed society and a societal corporate ideology.
we fail to see the interconnected-interdependent NOT UNCONNECTED- LOL