Barnie Frank & "Affordable Rental Housing"

[WhiskeyGirl]

This is an interesting interview on Fox, from yesterday -

http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/4313485?test=latestnews

Barney suggests that not everyone should own a home and that the nation needs lots of affordable rental housing and government needs to facilitate the affordable part.

What's wrong with this picture?  How much will 'affordable housing' cost taxpayers?

I read over the summer that 100 million poor people a year will be relocating to developed countries, most of those going to the US.  The US is deeply in debt, has a struggling economy, and problems with leaky borders - quality of life is on the decline, going quickly down a steep cliff.

I just don't think it's possible to absorb 100 million people a year - doesn't matter if they're poor, highly educated, or already speak English.  It's a disaster waiting to happen.

Barney said something about NOT creating massive housing projects.  And just how does he plan to accomplish all this affordable rental housing?  Who decides what is affordable?  Mortgage subsidies to private developers?  In my past experience, once government is involved in providing vouchers, rents rise and those not on welfare programs are priced out of housing they used to be able to afford through hard work. 

Rent control?  Where politicians snap up control price housing for decades?  Multiple units?

Are Barney's "affordable rental housing" ideas really the next $$$ transfer to community organizations?  Political cronies?  Special interests?

Is this part of the plan to import 100 million immigrants a year?  Where are the jobs for those folks already here?

[WhiskeyGirl]

I am reminded by Barney of the great socialist cities/nations in Europe.  First one that comes to mind is Vienna.

It's costs a lot of money to provide affordable rental housing to everyone.  How many households have lost their jobs and homes during Obama's time in office?

How much housing is already government owned in this country? 

This document, toward the end talks about how affordable housing is funded in Vienna.  Is it really affordable for those that have to pay the taxes?  What kind of economy do these cities really have?  Are they booming centers of economic activity?  Great places to live?  Or, do they just provide enough for the masses to barely get by?

http://www.wien.gv.at/english/housing/promotion/pdf/socialhous.pdf

Highlights -

Tenants’ Security
Despite much controversy, the 1917 Tenancy Act, which regulates the maximum amount of
rent that may be asked for an apartment according to location, legal status, and construction
period, has remained a national law until the present day. Only in very few, exactly defined
cases, rents can be increased. Limited rental contracts have been allowed for some years.
Most Vienna households nevertheless dispose of indefinite rental contracts, which can even
be passed on to children occupying the same flat. In social housing only indefinite contracts
are permitted, and tenants enjoy a broad participation in the day-to-day management of the
building. But also in privately-owned rental buildings, tenants are guaranteed important
rights; they may, for example, carry out improvements against the owner’s decision (but not
the other way round!). Disagreements between landlords and tenants can be decided by a
city-run arbitration office without any extra costs. Decisions of this department are legally
binding and can be passed on to the courts. This unusually high security for tenants may
explain why about 80 % of all Vienna residents live in rental apartments.
Balanced

Was this what Barney meant when he talked about removing the profit incentive for landlords?  A landlord in name only?  Lifetime squatters?  Problem tenants/neighbors forever?

The financing of social housing, both in the rental sector and in the subsidized owneroccupied and single-family housing sector, is based on a fixed, earmarked part of the income tax, the corporate tax, and the housing contributions, the latter of which is paid directly by all employed persons.

How many new jobs are created in these cities each year?

One of the blessings of the free market is that you can choose where you live and bad neighbors aren't forever.

jmho