Kalistan

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Housing Boom across Kalistan and Ananto following Rent Control Law
All new Units are capped at 10% of a worker's Monthly Income
Sulari, Duchy of Suldanor
June 10, 5663


This 18 Plex in South Sulari is one of many new multi-family units going up under new Rent Control Law

A housing boom is being felt across Suldanor, Odufaray, Vrassa and Ananto, as Kalistan's Free Cities are aiming to dramatically increase the housing stock for Kalistanis over the next 5 years. The growth requires various Ducal and Free City Housing Authorities, who control more than 65% of all homes in the Empire of Ananto to cap rent at 10% the tenant's monthly income. The new law also provides hundreds of millions of Imperial Rubles to cities and Ducal Governments to fund the construction of new Housing in Kalistan's cities and towns.

"The goal of Her Imperial Majesty's Government," said Her Imperial Majesty's Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Bradley Newburg, who is overseeing the new construction, "is to provide affordable housing to all Kalistanis. We have found that the issue isn't simply a matter of number of units available, but both quality and affordability. What goes does it do to have 100 units on the market if they are outside of the normal worker's price range? There is significant distortion in the market and it is pricing whole swaths of the Kalistani population outside of the market."

The policy comes in response to a sharp uptick in homelessness in Kalistan and Ananto over the past five years. "We've seen a lot of developers and corporations in the private market exploiting loopholes in the law for their sole benefit," said Minister Newburg. "This has led to a sharp rise in both home costs and rent in our cities. In Kaliburg alone, in the private market, we've seen a growth in rent of 47% over the past two years alone. It's obscene, and this is the result of price gouging. We know those responsible and if they refuse to stop acting like capitalists, by god we'll turn capitalism against them and beat them at their own game." Newbury noted that it's not technically illegal to raise prices to market rates, but what is legal isn't always ethical, "and if we have to pick one, we pick ethical every single time."

The new law allows land lords to continue to enforce their current mortgages at their current rates, but if an existing tenant moves out, their current home falls under the new rules. "The Government understands that there are some who wish to continue to live in their homes and pay higher rents: Perhaps this is a prestige thing, but the general increase of rent according to 'what the market will bear' if it were a formal agreement, would represent an illegal collusion between private actors. The tricky thing about the market is that it doesn't need to be a formal agreement between owners. They simply look around them, see what others are charging for comparable property and then raise their own rents, whether they have done anything to justify the increases or not. It's totally informal, but our goal is to artificially glut housing supply so that the market can no longer justify rent increases, and will have to cut landlords' margins to make their homes competitive--this will either result in directly lower rent as people move from high rent apartments and houses across the street to a rent controlled one, or indirectly for those who live in rentals already whose landlords need to offer a better deal to keep their tenants."

The various housing authorities, which are democratic institutions in cities, towns and counties, will have oversight over compliance of new housing with the law, and property managers may be brought in to work as Trustees of the public property. "Of course, it will be a job within the public sector," said Minister Newburg. "We will also utilize the NSP to help contractors with labor on building projects in the four of five duchies who are receiving new housing funds. By five years we expect to have enough homes to depress the rental market in the private sector, and virtually eliminate homelessness in our free cities and towns across the Empire."

The Duchess of Nevaras, Her Grace Kimberly Nevaras-Northern, has opted to pass similar legislation within her own Duchy. "The Duchess has opted to not take funds from this program, because her duchy has the lowest homelessness rate in the entire Empire, given her demesne's low population density," said Minister Newburg. "Her Duchy's plan is to help people to build their own homes either within various municipalities or in the rural parts of the nation, while putting a rental cap at 15% for all new private construction. We applaud her Duchy's innovation given its unique circumstances in the Empire."

The news of housing growth is very welcomed across the Free Cities, who have been asking for a serious commitment to housing for years now. Construction season is in full swing across the Empire, and the first homes will be in the control of the local and regional housing authorities by this October. It is expected that building will continue in Suldanor through the winter, but the building season traditionally ends in the north with the arrival of the fall rains and snows on the plateaus and in the mountains.

@TheRepublic