Post BAFVb9qtXCEaZhHOim by thany@mastodon.social
(DIR) More posts by thany@mastodon.social
(DIR) Post #BAEkEemxeRRI16CzPU by EUCommission@ec.social-network.europa.eu
1 likes, 0 repeats
Housing is a right, not a privilege. Yet, affordable housing is a major concern for citizens across Europe, especially in cities and popular tourist destinations. With our Affordable Housing Act, we're providing national, regional and local authorities with the tools and legal certainty they need to assess housing availability and affordability where the pressure is greatest, and to determine the appropriate next steps.Find out more: https://link.europa.eu/Tkmddt
(DIR) Post #BAEmFGVjbKJUuzZKCG by quad@akko.quad.moe
1 likes, 0 repeats
If I parsed this semi-legalese correctly, is the EU saying that for “areas under housing stress” (which is probably defined somewhere else or deeper in a related document) it allows for faster planning, approval and construction? As well as giving local authorities more power to do stuff like forcing out short-term-only rentals if necessary? As well as being harsher on long-term vacancies?Increased supply and turning short-term rentals into long-term rentals or ownerships is a great start I guess. Very cool.Quite frankly I still feel that the housing market won't ever fix itself though unless people start accepting that their homes are resources whose value can also go down, not investment assets where the price will always go up.RE: https://ec.social-network.europa.eu/@EUCommission/117241666256460272
(DIR) Post #BAEn4ZRoxCHGQ1CcEK by quad@akko.quad.moe
0 likes, 0 repeats
imo one of the core issues isn't how fast we can build homes, it's how affordable we can build them. Building more homes faster doesn't do much if it still costs the same, because unless construction COSTS go down the pirate market will just cease to construct homes instead.The real problem is that for ages home owners have wanted their force their home value to go up, whether personal or corporate owners, so they've all tended to vote for policies which stack on extra bureaucracy and requirements for building a home. So they renovate their homes to be more fancy and then try to get policies passed which make it illegal (or unprofitable) to build any less fancy homes nearby. Meaning that building an affordable home is slow yes, but also pretty much unachievable because building requirements most places only permit the output of expensive homes.Planning, approval and construction being faster is cool, but what we really need is for those three things to become MORE AFFORDABLE.That doesn't mean getting the papers, inspections, stamps and construction companies work faster by having to wait less for papers in the pipeline. That just prevents the manhours and material costs from being spread out as much, it doesn't necessarily make them any lower.Spending 50 000€ a month for 10 months doesn't make the home any more affordable than spending 100 000€ a month for 5 months.
(DIR) Post #BAEnGeLgYdPd5t5n9c by quad@akko.quad.moe
0 likes, 0 repeats
Don't get me wrong, the new EU rules seem great.But they read more like a "Increased Volume of Homes and Long-term Rentals Act", rather than an "Affordable Housing Act".I don't see where the cheaper house is going to come from. All I read is that expensive homes are going to pop up faster. (Which will lower area prices somewhat yes, but to a much lesser degree)
(DIR) Post #BAEnHgyCIWFJVrbS4G by wolf480pl@mstdn.io
0 likes, 0 repeats
@quadmake gravity vents legal again
(DIR) Post #BAEnfffUmxpsQTI0rg by quad@akko.quad.moe
0 likes, 0 repeats
@wolf480pl Honestly, I think the cost of putting an MVHR inside the attic at construction time is peanuts anyways compared to all the other buillshit required to build a home.
(DIR) Post #BAEnoZM5d6IlS8SJFo by wolf480pl@mstdn.io
0 likes, 0 repeats
@quadwhat are the most expensive requirements in your opinion?
(DIR) Post #BAEoLZWo0YZRXrCl0q by quad@akko.quad.moe
0 likes, 0 repeats
@wolf480pl Oh that I don't know. I don't have the whole fleet of stuff off the top of my head.But I have heard that often times the architect fees are like half the total cost, and could probably be cut considerably if more modular or prefab housing was permitted.No expert, but I've also heard that due to European countries having so many slightly different regulations it's hard to make for example a modular wall at scale which could be used for construction across most of the EU, considerably lowering cost.But if you want the full breakdown of building costs and where saving money without sacrificing quality works out best, you'd be better off asking someone other than me. Like most complex things my understanding is that there's no large cost to cut, rather there's 300 different things which are slightly more expensive than they really need to be.
(DIR) Post #BAEoSQr2eeHkfgwQ3k by ahltorp@mastodon.nu
0 likes, 0 repeats
Four replies so far, and all of them shitting on the proposal without saying a word what’s wrong with it. As usual.It’s okay to say that the European Commission proposals or actions are wrong or bad, but then do that, and say what’s wrong. There’s plenty to criticise. Let’s criticise them for the right reasons.
(DIR) Post #BAEoSR4VqZ3pLTFB3Y by wolf480pl@mstdn.io
0 likes, 0 repeats
@ahltorpI think people are just sick of the artificial optimism of insitutional PR accounts
(DIR) Post #BAEoY3AZcygUx2kvom by quad@akko.quad.moe
0 likes, 0 repeats
@wolf480pl @ahltorp I think there's also a lot of people, especially among younger people who are just "BOOMERS REEEE" rather than coming up with any constructive criticism or opinion.
(DIR) Post #BAEocMFmcEUxIWFMVU by wolf480pl@mstdn.io
0 likes, 0 repeats
@quadI was wondering what makes housing more expensive than in the 90s, not in the prefab 70s.And I guess part of it is in the 90s, you'd enlist all your cousins and uncles to help you build a house.
(DIR) Post #BAEopIowgr9wPorley by quad@akko.quad.moe
0 likes, 0 repeats
@wolf480pl I think prefab components are a large part actually, because of higher volume.If for example Germany was building a lot of homes with simpler rules, a company could manufacture 100k of the same roof component and those could be used to put cheap, but still quality, roofs on a lot of homes in Germany.However today that company would only make 10k instead, because not as many homes are being built, and even among the ones built they're not allowed to use that component as readily.Add to this the fact that they can't just make 100k anyways and sell the remaining 90k to neighboring countries, because most of them have slightly different rules which means they'd need their own slightly different SKU of the roofing module.
(DIR) Post #BAEpAV5MHl2mXEeQfg by wolf480pl@mstdn.io
0 likes, 0 repeats
@quad hmm reminds me that my parents' house has a large part of its downstairs ceiling / upstairs floor made of concrete prefabs, only the part above the hallway is a poured slab, because it had a weird shape....
(DIR) Post #BAEpBeb2PRZUK31EPI by quad@akko.quad.moe
0 likes, 0 repeats
@ergo @ahltorp @wolf480pl Maybe not, but "BOOMERS REE" still isn't useful.If you're anti-boomer at least suggest how you'd try to get those boomer house prices down sensibly. One can scream that the homes need to be reallocated, but that would either lead to people who need it losing their homes, or to the government buying homes off them, giving them or companies a huge cashout instead."Take the homes from the boomers" isn't a long-term initiative which will do anything when Millennials and Zoomers inevitably start voting for the same stuff despite how much they claim they won't.
(DIR) Post #BAEpspGibcwbsF6Itc by wolf480pl@mstdn.io
0 likes, 0 repeats
@quad @ahltorp @ergo some more actionable "BOOMERS REE" ideas that I do not condone, even though they'd make logical sense:- cut state subsidies for medicine, especially for people after 60- take money away from the state pension fund (a.k.a. legal monopoly on ponzi schemes) and use it to buy yahts for politicians- set a limit on cardiologists' salary, so that they all leave the countryEDIT: just to be clear, I believe all these ideas are morally reprehensible and disgusting
(DIR) Post #BAEpyxZIf1b5LuiVcG by quad@akko.quad.moe
0 likes, 0 repeats
@wolf480pl I mean there's lots of small stuff about my apartment as well from the 90s which are apparently just not up to code anymore. Of course hell if I bother fixing it, but it's the kind of stuff that bought the price down at least somewhat so I could buy it. (Still expensive af though)So there's a whole report of stuff that must be fixed.For example the water heater in the basement connected to a drain. But no, at some point between the 90s and now it apparently became a requirement that the whole floor be sloped towards the drain.The bathroom is also from the 90s, which is apparently "too old" so it's recommended that I reconstruct the whole floor to install a new waterproof membrane in there. Apparently they have a recommended replacement timeframe of 20-30 years so I'm expected to get a new floor for my bathroom at that interval. As if, fuck that.
(DIR) Post #BAEqEL9lF81Cqy6aG0 by wolf480pl@mstdn.io
0 likes, 0 repeats
@quad > that the whole floor be sloped towards the drainthis is just common sense in any place where you have a drain and waterproof floor...
(DIR) Post #BAEqF40QUgI1x35GSG by quad@akko.quad.moe
0 likes, 0 repeats
@wolf480pl @ahltorp @ergo thank you for your excellent suggestions, however i have a slight question: how do the yachts help lower house prices besides getting a few politicians to live on the sea instead?however i will admit that they are at least very likely to pass that initiative
(DIR) Post #BAEqIr0YlH1snVxBmy by quad@akko.quad.moe
0 likes, 0 repeats
@wolf480pl yeah i know, but apparently in the 90s norway didn't require it where there's water, only where your toilet was or something, lmao
(DIR) Post #BAEqMV8A2jOY6XFS0u by quad@akko.quad.moe
0 likes, 0 repeats
@ignaloidas @wolf480pl @ahltorp @ergo thank you
(DIR) Post #BAEqRmWwmKWFW6MMXw by quad@akko.quad.moe
0 likes, 0 repeats
@ergo @ahltorp @wolf480pl isn't this what canada went for?
(DIR) Post #BAErRAgRalZg5i4gkq by kyrahabattoir@wxw.moe
0 likes, 0 repeats
@quad Houses aren't being built to house people because that's work and not profitable, they are mainly built as wealth deposits.
(DIR) Post #BAErRAvKhPU4pt2Zxg by quad@akko.quad.moe
0 likes, 0 repeats
@kyrahabattoir Well yeah, that's my point.We need to make it possible to manufacture affordable homes for people to live in profitably, and then encourage said construction. Which is what I'd expect from an "Affordable Housing Act".Not just encourage more construction. That simply increases the number of expensive homes (i.e wealth deposits)
(DIR) Post #BAErviftmIWICUNzrE by kyrahabattoir@wxw.moe
0 likes, 0 repeats
@quad I feel that this would require a change in trajectory that late stage capitalism will not walk into willingly.
(DIR) Post #BAErviuQuG96vZBbVo by quad@akko.quad.moe
0 likes, 0 repeats
@kyrahabattoir Oh yes, I don't think we're on the right trajectory at all.Every country says they'll fix housing prices, then turn around and work with the same people causing this trajectory.
(DIR) Post #BAEt5A5vIjyHnlcooy by quad@akko.quad.moe
0 likes, 0 repeats
Since a lot of people seem to be misunderstanding my wall of text, I'll summarize:I do not have anything against these rules, they are great. The only thing I disagree with is the name and way it is presented, which implies it will provide affordable housing.I feel like an "Affordable Housing Act" needs to do, or at least progress towards, a few things: Step 0: Accept that homes are not an investment asset, but a place to liveStep 1: Make it possible to build an affordable home profitablyStep 2: Encourage the construction of these affordable homesStep 3: Ensure these affordable homes go to those who need a place to live, and at their intended pricesThese new rules seem to do none of these things. They seem to focus on ensuring that homes to go those who will live in them long-term and gives a little more local control which could be used to somewhat affect pricing, which is great, but it isn't an "Affordable Housing Act". It sounds more like a "Access to Housing Act"However I only read the press release that the EU commission's post linked to.If the actual 55 page proposal addresses any of the points mentioned above, or I have misunderstood the press release, please do inform me, by all means.
(DIR) Post #BAEtnIMru1D2Ccaz5M by wolf480pl@mstdn.io
0 likes, 0 repeats
@quad @ignaloidas the yahts were there for two reasons:1. since taking away people's retirement money is something that Polish politicians have kinda done at least once, and using covid relief funds to let some non-politicians buy yahts is also something Polish politicians have done at least once, let's combine the dramas and dial it to 112. Poland is an exporter of yahts
(DIR) Post #BAEyCXD2G8ODHxHqG8 by kyrahabattoir@wxw.moe
0 likes, 0 repeats
@quad The market cannot brain a solution that doesn't involve the market.
(DIR) Post #BAEyCXegbKVWfiDvMG by quad@akko.quad.moe
0 likes, 0 repeats
@kyrahabattoir Which is why the EU has to brain a solution which tells the market to chill tf out. But at least this time, it doesn't really seem like they did.
(DIR) Post #BAEyXJWkK9Smw4Plnk by kyrahabattoir@wxw.moe
0 likes, 0 repeats
@quad Ain't gonna happen when the EU was (sadly) built for it. It's always been an economical block before a social block. And a lot of European regulation is about making sure that we remain firmly in the hands of the capital class.
(DIR) Post #BAEyXJkZUkWRcwsoLo by quad@akko.quad.moe
0 likes, 0 repeats
@kyrahabattoir I am very well aware of how long we've been sinking towards the depths of capitalism. I don't really need a reminder.
(DIR) Post #BAEzGGvEr82dt6JBPU by kyrahabattoir@wxw.moe
0 likes, 0 repeats
@quad I'm convinced it will get better, but it will be painful.
(DIR) Post #BAEzGH8M4MX8XmRer2 by quad@akko.quad.moe
0 likes, 0 repeats
@kyrahabattoir I'm quite the centrist, but it's obvious that just about every developed economy keeps drifting further towards capitalism.If they won't take the gradual lean, the painful option is the only one left, no matter how it happens. My main worry is that when it happens it'll be overly rough for the average person and we might end up over-correcting too far towards another extreme.
(DIR) Post #BAF0DHWyEjk8rQ5y52 by kyrahabattoir@wxw.moe
0 likes, 0 repeats
@quad Yup, and when capitalism feels threatened, magic! Fascism rears its ugly head to force everyone to sing the same tune.
(DIR) Post #BAF0DHmDK3w7chE8q8 by quad@akko.quad.moe
0 likes, 0 repeats
@kyrahabattoir Frankly I feel like the left-wing people often tend to act more fascist. They might not do the militarization and stuff, but they're usually the ones all up in arms about getting entirely rid of or punishing opposing views, opinions and methods, as well as trying to only highlight the history beneficial to them from my humble perspective. On the right-wing side only the people at the top like Trump seem to act fascist, on the left-wing side I feel like a ton of people act fascist.At least according to the merriam webster definition, few people online seem to be consistent about what "fascism" means.
(DIR) Post #BAF3I4j1ZgyCSHi7e4 by kyrahabattoir@wxw.moe
0 likes, 0 repeats
@quad Hi, authoritarian communist here.Personally I just see all the harm and suffering capitalism causes and I want it to stop.With the technology we now have, and our understanding of the world, there is no reason anymore to play a worldwide lottery of "who is going to die of a preventable condition today".Our lives have no value to them. If you're useful, you just live a longer.
(DIR) Post #BAF3I4vQpYtX4lW1z6 by quad@akko.quad.moe
0 likes, 0 repeats
@kyrahabattoir I'm in the same boat, but don't know what category people would place me in.I just believe the government is too inefficient and inflexible so the most practical way to achieve improved conditions while responding to the real world is to regulate private companies so they cannot cause harm, and actually severely punish those who disregard humans for profit rather than the wrist slaps they currently get.While I trust that the government can do a good job at stuff like medical services, electricity and perhaps even housing if structured correctly, I struggle to imagine the government doing a great job of anything that requires creativity. Whether it'd be inventing a newer category of devices like smartwatches, or outputting a video game that I'd actually want to play.
(DIR) Post #BAF456WjfFSGEVLEY4 by kyrahabattoir@wxw.moe
0 likes, 0 repeats
@quad Well it's the same people whether it's for profit or not. I have seen for profits do wonderful things that are impossible for the market to do because there is no value in doing it.Creatives exist either ways i think. But under capitalism they are just jesters supposed to shit "art" on command.
(DIR) Post #BAF456rIQntxGGxeb2 by quad@akko.quad.moe
0 likes, 0 repeats
@kyrahabattoir I struggle to imagine most governments would pay for creatives to actually make a good movie or similar without a specific objective in mind either. Unless we go full UBI and let people spit art out on their own schedule.I think companies are a great way for people to organize towards a structured goal, whether it's running a store or creating a product.But modern capitalism where few people must own everything, every line must always go up or face the axe and human lives are nothing before profit, that needs to stop.
(DIR) Post #BAF4iIRRIf58TlYJf6 by kyrahabattoir@wxw.moe
0 likes, 0 repeats
@quad worker-owned art studios maybe?The owner being a separate entity from the workers actually doing the work is the biggest issue of companies in general.
(DIR) Post #BAF4iIggNzH7F2gUQC by quad@akko.quad.moe
1 likes, 0 repeats
@kyrahabattoir Yeah. That's fine by me.As long as the owner is someone doing actual work and not just staring at graphs all day.
(DIR) Post #BAF5rxZtpCnmccgJBw by kyrahabattoir@wxw.moe
0 likes, 0 repeats
@quad That's the thing, why do we need an owner at all? Managing a team is a skill, and a respectable one at that, but why should it mean you "own" the company anymore than the rest?
(DIR) Post #BAF5rxqCqZqVRCJKbo by quad@akko.quad.moe
0 likes, 0 repeats
@kyrahabattoir Well, I don't know enough about businesses to comment on all the details of how they should be run. But I do know that the way most companies are run and owned these days seems ridiculous.
(DIR) Post #BAFVb9qtXCEaZhHOim by thany@mastodon.social
0 likes, 0 repeats
@wolf480pl @ahltorp Those people can be blocked, or they themselves can voluntarily stop following accounts they chronically disagree with. This is not Twitter, after all.Thinking about it, it's pretty weird to follow an account you are guaranteed to be annoyed by. I don't get it. Almost as though some people enjoy being cross. What a mad world, huh.
(DIR) Post #BAFXNGnP7YvTxr9Vbc by wolf480pl@mstdn.io
0 likes, 0 repeats
@thanyOk but to many people on of the promises of the fediverse is no corporate PR, and that has become a social norm. And if a (cross-)governmental institution starts talking with the same kind of PR, that, by default, brings out an "enforce the social norm" response.I guess.Idk.It's a hypothesis. If you always unfollow and never push back, are social norms even a thing?If you never get pushback for misreading the room, does the room even exist?@ahltorp
(DIR) Post #BAGG2sgHEhv4w0Ww7c by quad@akko.quad.moe
0 likes, 0 repeats
@ignaloidas Thanks, that's mostly what I got from the press release as well. Getting rid of all those pointless airbnbs is always cool, but it didn't sound much like an "Affordable Housing Act" to me.
(DIR) Post #BAGY6lIERbYkM4HdrM by thany@mastodon.social
0 likes, 0 repeats
@wolf480pl @ahltorp Fair points, but I seem to notice a distinction between people that have genuine constructive criticism, and people who criticise purely for the sake of it.On the flip side, we live in a society of free speech, and criticism of the government is allowed. I guess that's something to be proud of in a world that seems to be enshittified by evil regimes.Idk either, I'm no expert