2007-10-05

New Pet Peeve - Big Rents

Here's something else that pisses me off: people who post those flyers on the board in the office kitchen area advertising some house or apartment for rent at like $4000 and up.

Aaaaaagh!

I need to put up a sticker or something that declares that any rentals posted should be affordable to employees who aren't benefiting from housing allowances or are senior management or something. Grr.

2 comments:

MS CUTE PANTS said...

Sadly, it's the expats that get blamed for driving the rent prices high, which is not true. Everyone seems to forget that expats are not the ones that set the rent amounts. Since the past couple of years, not a lot of companies are offering rent allowances anymore & yet this has not stopped the rent figures from increasing. Perhaps the government should step in to regulate the rental market, but we all know that's not going to happen.

Anonymous said...

Ms. Cute Pants,

Absolutely not. Rent control is the absolute last thing that should ever happen.

Supply and demand is what dictates rents. Landlords will charge what they can get away with because owning and renting out property is an "investment" for many people. Lack of supply creates the demand that allows landlords to raise rents.

Government needs to do something about housing supply vs. demand.

There are a number of strategies that could be undertaken but the absolute first is admitting that there is a serious problem, which hasn't happened.