About this episode

The episode discusses the history and potential resurgence of affordable housing options like boarding houses and the impact of corporate landlords on rent prices.

One specific type of affordable housing used to be popular in American cities, kept rents low, then nearly vanished. Is it time to reconsider boarding houses and single room occupancy units? If they lowered rents in cities, why did they go away? We have the history. Then, let’s talk about corporate landlords. They’re blamed for driving up rents. Studies show they do the opposite. When corporate landlords come to town, they do buy up homes, which can raise the price to buy, but at the same time lower rents. We’ll parse the impact as we consider a Trump administration plan to restrict corporate home ownership. Related episodes: Is the YIMBY movement doomed? How to fix a housing shortage How to build abundantly Can Trump make buying a home more affordable? Support: NPR+ Read: Our book: Planet Money: A Guide to the Economic Forces That Shape Your Life Our weekly longform Planet Money newsletter Our weekly Indicator round-up newsletter Follow: Instagram TikTok YouTube Facebook The original episodes of the Indicator were hosted by Darian Woods and Wailin Wong. They were produced by Julia Ritchey, Cooper Katz McKim and Corey Bridges with engineering by Travis Hagan and Robert Rodriguez…

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