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AFFORDABLE HOUSING
A Libertarian Outlook
by Gerald Schneider, Ph.D.
With housing costs so high, I am reminded of the need for
affordable housing, especially for the poor. What we lack are
public policies that provide affordable but sound shelter in
honest and competent ways.
Government money and oversight are not the answer.
Government housing programs, in fact, are unfair, inept, and
counterproductive. They reward government bureaucrats with high-
salaried jobs taken from tax revenues intended for the needy, not
the greedy. But not nearly enough of that money filters down to
the poor to solve their housing dilemma.
What can be done? Some suggestions follow:
Get Government Out of Housing
Phase out all government-owned housing, giving title to
apartments and buildings to tenants. Allow tenants to arrange
whatever ownership pattern they want (condominium, cooperative,
etc.). Alert nonprofit and other private organizations that
counsel tenants on ownership about the phase-out.
Dissolve the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD) at the same time. Ditto for local government
housing agencies. Those expensive government bureaucracies, of
doubtful value to begin with, would no longer be necessary.
Millions of dollars would be saved!
Establish Individual Ownership
Assure "squatters" living in abandoned buildings that
government authorities will not toss them out just for living
there. This assurance of a "home" might even encourage squatters
to upgrade their living quarters through "sweat equity." Self-
pride of "ownership," even if temporary, could give new
incentives to squatters to improve their lives, too.
Permanent ownership by serious, long-term squatters on
genuinely abandoned or government-owned vacated property should
be allowed. Programs of urban and rural "homesteading" could be
renewed and expanded.
Relax Apartment Regulations
Laws that restrict or restrain homeowners from creating
apartments in underused single-family houses should be relaxed.
Such apartments could be provided quickly at low cost in contrast
to the time and expense for new construction. And apartments
added in that manner require no new infrastructure of streets,
sewers, and public amenities.
Also, the extra income from secondary apartments in single-
family houses could help needy homeowners become financially
independent. The elderly, for example, may live in houses larger
than they need because their children are gone. While the houses
may be mortgage free, the burden of government taxes can be
unbearable. Rental money from secondary apartments in their
houses can make the difference.
Properly enforced nuisance and negligence laws would resolve
neighborhood problems, if any, that secondary apartments in
single-family houses cause. Government licensing and approval
laws for these secondary apartments only frighten people away
from creating them.
More boarding houses should be allowed by local government
authorities. There is nothing wrong with people who have their
own bedrooms sharing a bathroom and kitchen. Costs for such
units would be relatively low, and, while this arrangement is not
for everyone, it would be better than many street alternatives.
Eliminate Zoning Obstacles
Finally, zoning laws and building codes that make new
housing needlessly costly should be ended. This includes
politically determined land-use density and building height
rules. Government should not stifle innovation for low-cost
housing through enforcement of outmoded and rigid construction
standards.
Reprinted from THE WHEATON NEWS of Wheaton, Maryland, Nov.
25, 1987. For a one year subscription to Mr. Schneider's biweekly
"Libertarian Outlook" column, send $15 to: Gerald Schneider, 8750
Georgia Ave., Suite 1410-B, Silver Spring, MD 20910. Copyright
1987 Gerald Schneider, Ph.D.
(This is the text of one of a series of eight topical Libertarian
outreach leaflets produced by the Libertarian Party of Skagit
County, WA. The leaflets have a panel with National LP member-
ship information, with a space for other LP groups to stamp their
own address and phone number. Samples and a bulk price list/
order form are available from: Libertarian Party of Skagit
County, P.O. Box 512, Anacortes, WA 98221.)