• cadekat@pawb.social
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    1 year ago

    If it’s purchased as an investment, but still rented out, how does that make housing less affordable?

    I fully support vacant home taxes, but the idea that investors (and people often blame foreign investors specifically) are to blame seems flawed to me.

    If there was enough housing supply, prices would drop, no?

    • gramie@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      Housing becomes less affordable because suddenly rent has to cover the owner’s profit as well as the cost of the mortgage. No one is going to invest in housing if there is no profit, and they are going to do what they can to make the profit as high as possible.

      A landlord is essentially a middleman between the mortgage holder and the resident. Renting can make sense, especially for people who are not living somewhere for a long time, but currently people are renting simply because there is no way they can afford to buy a house.