I am a landlord.
I smiled as Chief Engineer Pelia on the starship Enterprise said, “I still have a bunker in Vermont, where I used to live, in case this no-money-socialist-utopia thing turns out to be a fad.”
No landlords on Star Trek.
…
At age 17, escaping to the big city on my own, I wondered, wide eyed, what society was like now, and what society could soon be like. In those days, when boys had long hair, idealism meant hotly protesting capitalism.
The communists taught me about struggles amongst various classes, including landlords. The reds, I discovered, were not all the same: In downtown Vancouver, on Hastings street, the Marxist-Lenninist bookstore (Albania and China) was across and barely down the road from the Stalinist-Krushchevist store (East Germany and the Soviet Union)
While the reds could not agree on which brand of communism to follow, in Canada nearly everyone believed in the free market, with its “invisible hand.” We differed only in how much socialism to include in the mix. Universal health care? Most assuredly. Rent control? Probably not.
The difference between the First World and the Second World (communist) was most stark in the two German republics. West Germany had luxury goods. But in the controlled economy of East Germany, where most people were “not good enough” to be accepted into the ruling Communist Party, there was hardship. No luxuries. The Party Members used their exclusive shops, while despising fellow Germans for being dirty traitors who used the black market.
But water seeks its natural level. If government control over the market varies too much from what is natural —as with Canadian cigarettes— then even patriots, like a proud army officer I know, will sneak over to the black market. The leaders were wrong to label everybody greedy.
…
In Britain they are discussing housing and how much to control. A small landlord, Ms Ogundfeibo, told the BBC, “‘I’ve sold my flat before the renters rights act becomes law.’ She says ‘landlords are scared’ of some of the changes coming up.”
Renters are both scared and offended. Protest signs photographed by the BBC include:
Rent control now
Homes for people not profit
Broken communities!
CUT OUR RENT NOW
…
In theory, the “ecology of supply and demand” could produce an increased supply of small landlords. But the same BBC article that quotes Ms Ogundfeibo quotes “a survey of 821 landlords in May of 2021, by the flat rental site SpareRoom, small ones are more likely to exit the market than professional landlords.”
Enjoying Star Trek, I think in science fiction visions: To me it would be nice if the government would step back, deleting regulations and allowing some new Thomas Edison to respond by…
inventing geodesic frames;
or homes of compressed recycled material inspired by lego blocks;
or ceramic fireproof homes;
or apartment blocks with good water-sprinklers, thereby needing only a single emergency stairwell, allowing for creative use of floorspace involving more suites;
or prefabricated walls, rather than dumping a supply of 2 x 4s, like so many toothpicks, and then assembling from scratch;
or landlord investment co-operatives.
Oh, the possibilities.
…
As a teenager, I wondered: should I believe the communists? Or should I believe the libertarians? The latter, without saying “black market,” had some sad things to say about unfortunate effects after governments resort to rent control, impelling landlords to behave in unfortunate ways, with sad effects including, but not limited to, no longer investing in new housing even as old buildings crumble and disappear. Entropy always wins.
Students would say, “Never trust anyone over thirty” and “Power to the people!” Yet I wondered —after seeing a peace symbol as a belt buckle— would those longhaired lemmings truly labour hard enough to construct a brave new world?
I went to see the ombudsman responsible for mediating the landlord-tenant act. No special reason: I merely wanted to learn about human nature. Caught between commies and libertarians I asked, in my boyish treble: Are the bad guys nearly always the landlords, or nearly always the tenants?
He graciously answered that both classes were equally at fault. “It’s half and half.” Significantly, this was in Vancouver, a city without rent control.
…
I am a landlord. I should sell my place. I realize some one needs to supply rental housing, but it won’t be me. Leave it to the “big landlords.”
Because what if I attend a nice party? In a city suffering rent control? I think if people find out I am a small landlord they will instantly despise me.
They would be sure, without even knowing me, that I am greedy.
… …
… …
Sean Crawford
City of Calgary
September
2025
Update: A landlord tried to run for president of Ireland—you can’t make this stuff up.
Footnote: A futurologist visiting my campus said that in Japan, when a new ceramic housing development is up for sale, one house will have thick smoke rising out, and it considered cool to buy that one.
