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community-based approach to housing, both in the creation and stabilization of a diverse variety of unique, inclusive, urban humanistic communities.
If housing is a human right, then we should remember that, despite SCOTUS’s warped and dehumanizing interpretation, corporations are not people.
“HOMES FOR HOMEOWNERS.”
If housing is a human right, then housing should be owned and operated by humans and good housing policy would aim to allow more people to own their own homes. Under the concept of housing as a human right, homeownership has numerous possible advantages over renting. As an invested stakeholder with a sense of ownership, one might tend to feel closer ties to one’s own community and have a greater impetus to develop the civic virtues important in creating Community.
State Senator Nancy Skinner authored Senate Bill last year, which she called the “homes for homeowners” bill, and which the governor signed into law: The new law gives owner-occupants, tenants, local governments, and housing nonprofits a level playing field to purchase such homes, helping retain owner-occupied home ownership. Senate Bill 1079 also authorizes higher fines that a local government can levy on corporations or other property owners that leave homes vacant or blighted, to incentivize refurbishing and renting or selling such homes.
While this bill is a step in the right direction, it does not go far enough, as the existing system itself does not allow owner-occupants, tenants, local governments and housing nonprofits to compete on a level playing field with Wall St., major corporations and global capital. The suggested measures that are the subject of this piece are, of course, designed
to address the inherent structural problems and the impossibility of a “level playing field” that the commodification of housing itself creates. Homes for homeowners should also be real estate for real people.
Programs should be set up and funded which empower and enable people to become homeowners, particularly first-time homeowners. Programs should be broadly designed and should include aid to help deal with many of the various aspects of homeownership. A recent bipartisan (sic) proposal in the Senate, which would provide tax credits to revitalize distressed homes and neighborhoods, may be a step in the right direction. Any tax credit program needs to be designed with the express understanding that the “objectives of private enterprise” almost never include equity, inclusion or community; their objectives always involve the maximization of profits. Policies need to create more homes for homeowners, but they also need to ensure that there are broad housing/lifestyle choices for community members.
Ultimately, we need to ask ourselves the following question: do we want to be a society of renters and ultra-wealthy landlords, corporate or otherwise? If housing is a human right, shouldn’t the focus be on ensuring homes are owned by humans? We need policies that strengthen neighborhoods, create sustainable communities, and avoid devolving into neo-feudalism.
Unfortunately, most of the recent housing bills from Sacramento, both those that have been enacted and those that have been proposed, are real estate bills rather than housing bills. They will do little to make housing more affordable but will serve the Urban Growth Machine’s goals at a time when growth levels in California are at historic lows.
TF
Please turn to page CS-30
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APARTMENT MANAGEMENT MAGAZINE - DECEMBER 2021 CS-29