Two indicators for lowering the rent
Planet Money
- Published
- June 10, 2026
- Duration
- 17:47
- Summary source
- description
- Last updated
- Jul 22, 2026
Discusses One specific type of affordable housing used to be popular in American cities, kept rents low, then …
Summary
One specific type of affordable housing used to be popular in American cities, kept rents low, then nearly vanished. Is it time to reconsider boarding houses and single room occupancy units? If they lowered rents in cities, why did they go away? We have the history.Then, let’s talk about corporate landlords. They’re blamed for driving up rents. Studies sh…
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Show notes
One specific type of affordable housing used to be popular in American cities, kept rents low, then nearly vanished. Is it time to reconsider boarding houses and single room occupancy units? If they lowered rents in cities, why did they go away? We have the history.Then, let’s talk about corporate landlords. They’re blamed for driving up rents. Studies show they do the opposite. When corporate landlords come to town, they do buy up homes, which can raise the price to buy, but at the same time lo