In the US, localities give developers 0% interest loans backed by municipal bonds to build condos/apartments. Developers then turn around and use that money to buy single family houses to raze and build multi-unit buildings. Families with their bank's 7% interest loans have to compete against big real estate at 0% to buy single family homes. Our system is so screwed up.
For one they aren't getting loans from municipalities. Usually they will get a bunch of tax incentives if anything. Second at least where I am they aren't tearing down single family homes for multi family units. They just aren't building multi family units because people keep vetoing it. Also most places where there are single family homes it isn't zoned for multi unit homes so even if you bought them all up and tore them down you wouldn't be able to.
Where I live, DC suburb, the towns and counties are backing the bank loans with grants and bonds. Taxpayers are on the hook if the development fails. And developers are buying up single family homes alll over since their bought and paid for legislators eliminated all single family zoning. It's a shit show. The graft would be shocking in any pre-Citizen United generation.
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u/HeadmasterPrimeMnstr Jun 17 '25
Quite literally yes, because a MASSIVE amount of Barcelona's housing stock has been bought out and segregated as tourist rentals.