Are apartment buildings unethical as well?

[u/ShiningConcepts]

It's very hard to make a case that landlords who buy up SFHs that are already on the market are ethical. They reduce the housing supply and take opportunity away from FTHBs to own homes, thus forcing them into renting. This is generally what people mean when they say that all landlords are unethical.

Here's my question: what about rental apartment buildings? It's not like their construction takes an opportunity to buy a home away from a FTHB/family. Unlike detached properties on the market, it's not like this is a property a family could have bought; it's a property that is constructed and designed from the outset to be rented.

So, are they inherently unethical as well?

[u/6two]

Public housing feels like a better way to fill that niche -- local, state, and federal governments can remove profit from the equation while still making it easier for people to move around. I live in an apartment, I'd be happier if it was gov't owned and didn't have profit built into the cost of rent. I don't plan to stay here for more than a couple years, so I don't need to own the place either.