A radical proposal for solving Canada’s housing crisis – part 3

Three years ago, I wrote a column titled “A radical proposal for solving Canada’s housing crisis”.

Given how radical the proposal was, I received much more positive feedback than expected.

Since that time, many consultations have been had, the idea has been fleshed out, its potential impact on other areas of society, explored.

It is looking more and more like this idea, simple in concept but complex in impact, might actually work.

When I initially had this idea, I thought: ‘this is insane, there is no way this works.’ But after running it through different scenarios, it just kept working. 

Very intelligent people who are knowledgeable in this area have repeatedly gone through the exact same process. 

Initially: ‘this has to be lunacy, there is no way this works’

A few days later: ‘wait a minute, does this actually work? Why does this keep working?’

To the politically savvy it will be immediately apparent why an idea like this is both attractive and potentially dangerous if not done carefully and correctly. Here is the pitch:

What if a government could guarantee an end to homelessness, a sustainable and permanent solution to the housing crisis, a substantial improvement to the affordability crisis, for some the solution to affordability entirely?

Now imagine doing this through utilizing one of the most powerful and reliable motivators in modern society: human greed.

Here is a high-level breakdown of the idea:

There are a few different components, each with specific restrictions. These must all be done together:

1. Residential rent is made illegal.

2. Land owners are compensated with a stipend on a per-person basis.

Example: A home owner houses 5 people, the stipend is $1,000 per-person, per month. The home owner is given $5,000 per month to house these 5 people.

This stipend has several specific qualities:

a. Universal qualification. Everyone is a resident. The home owner is also a resident. The home owner is paid for housing anyone, including themselves and their family, on an individual basis.

b. Uniformity in value. The stipend in the same in all jurisdictions. An individual’s market value to house does not change or vary.

c. Profit incentive (lower bound). The stipend must be large enough to incentivize land owners to house people as a viable business.

d. Funding feasibility (upper bound). The stipend must be low enough to be sustainable in the long-term. 

e. The land owner is paid directly.

A summary of further analysis and expected effects of this has been compiled in a short book/document titled “Free Rent Forever: A radical solution to the housing and affordability crisis”. The e-book is available on Amazon for $1 USD. 

In addressing the direct and immediate questions the document first explores:

How this would be implemented, the impact on land owners, the impact on residents, and how to pay for a program like this.

There are also multiple sections exploring how this idea would affect different aspects or sections of society.

These include: Illegal immigration, landlord tenant relations, family unity, value for domestic duties, housing and healthcare, social assistance, tourism and hotels, prisons and halfway-houses.

With how significant an issue housing and affordability are in Canada there is clearly a public desire for the country to do something.

We need more ideas like this, discussed and explored. Find what is useful and consider it. If it doesn’t work, don’t implement. At a minimum, let’s think about it.

Read more in the Free Rent Forever Solution Affordability Book by Alex Vezina here Canada Amazon and US Amazon.

Vezina is the CEO of Prepared Canada Corp. He can be reached at info@prepared.ca.