Kalistan

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Kalistan renews efforts at affordability in Housing
Homelessness is inexcusable, says Michael Johnson
Kaliburg, Grand Duchy of Ananto
June 12, 5719


New multi-unit complexes like these in Ellysia and Chancellory/ Imperial City, are going up in Kalistan's cities as National Government recommits to Housing

Her Imperial Majesty's Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Michael Johnson, officially launched the national initiative to wipe out homelessness across the Empire. "Currently, it is estimated that more than 148,000 individuals nationwide are not permanently housed," said Johnson. "Those numbers are based on a running average of the National Point in Time Counts which take place twice a year, one in the Summer and one in the Winter. Of those about a third of them are families, more than one half are men, and 40% of them are employed. Of the main drivers of homelessness, cost is a factor, because despite public housing efforts that control about 80 percent of the housing stock in the nation, Local housing authorities often follow local property values when setting prices, and some places, like Kaliburg and Sulari have grown incredibly expensive to live in. Non economic related issues include mental illness and drug addiction. But the real driver is lack of units. We really haven't been building over the years and our population has kind of outgrown the housing supply. This contributes to price and scarcity then so that even those working can't find a place."

The Minister said that homelessness was an issue that the Empire has long struggled with. "We aren't going to be glib about it like some other nations and claim that homelessness is a choice," said the Minister. "Homelessness is rarely a choice. Of the 148,000 members of our society who are experiencing homelessness, roughly one third of those are completely unsheltered. These are the ones we tend to see, many of them we do not see. But there are also 100,000 individuals, including 17,000 children, who have some shelter: Maybe they stay at their friends or relatives' houses, maybe they camp under bridges, maybe they live in some sort of temporary living space with no security, not facilities, and no heat. Homelessness in this land of abundance is inexcusable. And we have the power do do something about this."

Minister Johnson said he has secured a fiat from Her Imperial Majesty to begin working on addressing this problem. "Our estimates are that we could build 50,000 new units for just under K$20 billion Imperial," said the Chancellor. "These wouldn't be tenements. But they also wouldn't be single family homes either. The idea is to reverse the more than a century old policy of trying to discourage concentrations in our cities by building large multi family units. These would be public housing units, and would be explicitly lower income dwellings, and rather than renting at the local market rate, they would be capped at 10% of an individual's income. In a sense, these will be a pilot program to begin taking dwellings off the market rate scale and making a safe, warm, and clean dwelling a human right. If it works for the homes provided in this program, we will gradually extend the housing price cap for all rents in the nation."

Kalistan's small, but vocal liberal minority immediately pounced on the proposal, decrying it as creeping socialism. "We had hoped for an income tax reduction this year," said Brad Sonder of the Kaliburg Small Business Association. "They already treat dividend payments and earnings on stock sales as income, while in other countries businessmen and women, the real job creators, pay preferential rates to encourage investment. But this will forestall cuts in our tax rates this year, and for the next ten years, and like every other year, the business community is going to have to get in line while the poor and the working classes get their handouts, again." Others called on the national government to privatize housing. "It has been showing time after time that privatization improves service and reduces prices," said Kevin Sparks, a Sulari Construction firm foreman. "Any time the Government gets involved, it tips the market away from private operators. A 10% price cap will kill those owners who would like to rent their property out, and require the ability to charge market rate to recoup on their investment."

The Minister dismissed this type of criticism. "Some will call it socialism, but that is to suggest that Her Imperial Majesty, in attempting to meet the basic needs of her people, is a socialist. But its not socialism to ensure that people have a warm safe place that they can call their own. We have demonstrated that even under the current system rents are 20-30% lower for the same square footage in a similar market environment in a country where housing is run for profit by private landlords. Even at the so called "market rate"; because the Housing authority isn't attempting to wring profit from the people. If market rate pricing is beating up Kalistanis who just want a warm, safe place to live in Kalistan, imagine how bad homelessness would be in a place where landlords spent their time devising new ways to suck the blood of their tenants."

Minister Johnson said the project, which is expected to sail through the National Assembly, now that it has the Empress' fiat behind it, will begin selecting sites for new construction as early as next Spring. "We are also going to grandfather in several new constructions that are expected to be finished this fall, including the new Commons in Imperial City, where are beginning to reclaim that land for the City now after more than a century of it being vacant, and in Ellysia in northwest Port Davon. We are also going to buying out developers in Sulari and Eshar who have already gotten a start on their projects. We want to build 5000 units a year for the next ten years in all major cities, near public services and transportation infrastructure, and expect to start moving families first into these new multi-family buildings as early as this fall in Kaliburg, and next summer in Sulari."

The Minister was very optimistic about this project: "The goal is to give our Empress a fully housed nation. Shelter and security are two of the most basic of all human needs, and capping the rent at 10% of their income ensures that their achievement of this need is not based on their ability to pay through the nose for it. It will help families and individuals who are struggling to have a breather and get on their feet again, it will give them some individual dignity, and it will remove a blight and a significant source of crime of necessity from our cities. I have long promoted housing first as the correct strategy for so many of the social woes that plague our cities, that plague all cities. It's my hope, and I think Her Imperial Majesty's that this model can serve as an example to other nations with similar difficulties who are undergoing similar social issues."

@TheRepublic