@storyworker

But why can't you afford a home while you can afford to rent? That is part of the problem. Why is your rent enough for the landlord to be able to afford it, but is the same amount of money not enough for you to be able to afford it?

Mind you, there's absolutely a good case to be made why rent should still exist. Some people move around a lot and having to buy and sell homes everywhere is a pain. Rent has to exist.

And cheap, rent-controlled appartments definitely fill an important role too. But at some point you start getting a two-tiered society where a shrinking group of people own everything and rent it to the rest for extortionate prices, and that's what we need to get out of.