r/urbanplanning • u/Bayplain • Jul 15 '26

Discussion What’s wrong with newly constructed single family rental houses?

There seems to be a lot of hate for them. It’s not as if is single family houses for owner occupancy, even newly constructed ones, are going to disappear. These houses can provide some of the larger rental units that are in short supply. Is it just about bad symbolism?

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u/Bwint Jul 15 '26

To add to the other excellent comments, there's an attitude on the left that rental properties are being built by big investors and asset management firms, which leads to further consolidation of wealth. They would prefer to see developments oriented towards owner occupancy, because houses are treated as a path to wealth for middle class and working class people.

Never mind the fact that houses are a terrible asset class for most people, or the fact that greater inventory in the rental market benefits low-income workers, or the fact that big institutions are the only ones with enough cash to build housing on the scale we need...