"Right to the city": what demands to raise?

[Die Neue Zeit]

So, what is "right to the city"? What can be raised? Here's what I've compiled so far after some discussion, but I know this isn't complete:

1) Expand resident association "rights" beyond the privilege of homeowners and towards including tenants. The formation of separate tenant associations and of broader neighbourhood associations helps "erode the rationale for absentee landlordism."
2) Abolish residential writs of possession and eviction for the benefit of private parties.
3) "Policies to broaden the appeal of renting should be investigated." Part of what caused the subprime crisis in the US is the deductibility of certain items pertaining to mortgages, such as mortgage interest and mortgage insurance premiums. Other countries don't have this "homeowner's society" BS, but then again don't have income tax deductibility or tax credits for residential rent payments.
4) Extend #3 above further with respect to suburban and rural areas (double the deductibility or credits?), since residential tenants are concentrated in the most urban of areas. There should be incentives for the "gradual abolition of all the distinction between town and country by a more equable distribution of the populace over the country" stated in the Communist Manifesto. [Scrapped out of fierce opposition from a comrade opposing urbanites "invading" the wilderness and the general countryside]

Thoughts?



Sources:

http://www.revleft.com/vb/housing-issues-and-t110969/index.html
http://www.revleft.com/vb/right-cityi-t129254/index.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/feb/07/cheap-credit-poorest-spiral-debt

[Lynx]

One of the disadvantages of paying rent is that it isn't an investment. You are paying for a service (plus profit for parasitic landowners), while mortgages and home ownership are an investment with rising equity.

Is this the first step in a transitional demand?

[Die Neue Zeit]

One of the disadvantages of paying rent is that it isn't an investment. You are paying for a service (plus profit for parasitic landowners), while mortgages and home ownership are an investment with rising equity.

Is this the first step in a transitional demand?

This isn't intended to be a transitional demand, but a set of radical reform measures wrongly perceived by too many on the left as "transitional." I've already critiqued the "transitional" method too many times on this board and elsewhere.

[Lynx]

Is this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Housing_cooperative) what you meant by tenant's association?

I would like to see structural changes that relegate the concept of landlord and tenant to the dustbin of history.

[Die Neue Zeit]

While I know about housing coops and limited equity coops, I meant a reform measure that would enable lots of tenant associations to crop up. Right now, unless you're in NYC or Detroit, there are only homeowners associations. MarxSchmarx said that this helps in the fight against absentee landlordism (a threshold demand between more immediate demands and genuinely transitional demands).

[Lynx]

Then you mean tenant associations that have the legal right to manage privately held property?

[Die Neue Zeit]

I guess, especially if #1 and #2 are achieved simultaneously. Without #2, the first task of #1 is to collectively fight undue expulsions which occur all the time.

[Lynx]

Following implementation of these reforms, under what circumstances would an owner or landlord be able to refuse the renewal of a lease?
Would the owner or landlord be able to set whatever rental rate they please?

[Die Neue Zeit]

Re. leases: Good question. I honestly hadn't considered the difference between a mere tenant and a lessee. Either #2 would mean there would have to be another method for non-renewal, or I'd have to rephrase it to take into account renewals.

How's "Limitation of residential writs of possession and eviction for the benefit of private parties to renewals"?

This would include lease renewals and mortgage renewals. [Of course, on the commercial side, the original inclusion of the word "residential" means it's business as usual for possession and evictions.]

Re. the second question about rental rates: I'm sure there would have to be prior agreement with the tenant associations.

[blake 3:17]

I've only come across the term recently, and haven't heard a super clear definition. Some of the folks that are thinking on these lines -- their approach is clearly class struggle focussed, defending social and economic rights. The following is pretty much exclusively on Toronto.

In Toronto, there's the Public Space Committee and Spacing magazine, which are essentially liberal reformist. Some good ideas and others I have little time for. There's also the rightwing of "municipalism"(?) -- we've got the goofy Richard Florida and his creative class pulling in lots of attention. The Toronto Star has also been running a big series of articles and opinion pieces on how the city could be changed for the better.

The radical folks talking about rights to the city are focussed on housing, public transportation, adequate social assistance rates, opposition to racist immigration policies, defending the public sector and public sector unionism. We've taken some pretty big hits recently -- David Miller's second mayoral term as a basic screw up, large ineffective strikes in the public sector. Both the City and the School Board are going in some pretty strange directions, with some changes that could really go either way.

There are a number of attacks on particular public services that appear slightly esoteric, but essentially attacks on working class people and certain petty bourgeois layers. The policy stuff is really backhanded, very divisive incrementally which succeeds diffusing the struggle and pitting folks that could be working together against one another.

More later.

[Lynx]

How's "Limitation of residential writs of possession and eviction for the benefit of private parties to renewals"?
Let's try an example:
The owner of an apartment building (lessor) wishes to convert it into luxury condominiums. In preparation for the conversion, notice is given to all existing tenants (lessee) that their leases will not be renewed.
Would the above be prevented by #2 ?

Termination/non-renewal of a lease is a basic right for property owners. I have heard of circumstances where the law provides for perpetual possession so long as the original tenant pays the rent. But this is rare.

[Die Neue Zeit]

The radical folks talking about rights to the city are focussed on housing, public transportation, adequate social assistance rates, opposition to racist immigration policies, defending the public sector and public sector unionism.

I'm running this discussion on several forums.

The reason why I'm excluding "housing" (if read as the usual social housing mantra), public transport, welfare money ("social assistance"), anti-racist immigration policies, public sector unionism, etc. is that they don't deal with "right to the city" in a full-blown political program.

In "right to the city" campaigns, these issues do not change the public perception of the groups as being single-issued.

Furthermore, someone else below wrote about the "right to squat" - which I think is a lumpen demand and not a worker demand:

http://www.rabble.ca/babble/activism/right-city-what-demands-raise

[Only one poster responded in that thread above, but again this discussion is in several forums.]

[Die Neue Zeit]

Let's try an example:
The owner of an apartment building (lessor) wishes to convert it into luxury condominiums. In preparation for the conversion, notice is given to all existing tenants (lessee) that their leases will not be renewed.
Would the above be prevented by #2 ?

Where should I add the word "non-gentrification"?

"Limitation of residential writs of possession and eviction for the benefit of private parties to non-renewals for purposes other than gentrification"?

[I realized just now that "renewals" the positive word is grammatically incorrect.]


Termination/non-renewal of a lease is a basic right for property owners. I have heard of circumstances where the law provides for perpetual possession so long as the original tenant pays the rent. But this is rare.

Sheesh. I don't know if the second revision above is sufficient to cover this.

BTW, you really really stole the words out of my mental backburner with that second-to-last sentence of yours. :thumbup1:

There's just one small loophole: suppose the building needs to be torn down and a new one built *but not* for the purposes of gentrification. An apartment building gets replaced by another of similar quality. Surely there would be wiggle room for issuing notices of non-renewal, no?

[blake 3:17]

JR. I think you are making a basic mistake. Putting a program apart from the defensive struggles we're engaged in actually moves the development of an effective socialist program away from the movement necessary to implement it. Here there have developed processes in which coalition partners to the left of the NDP are developing ideas and common practice which could push our defensive struggles to create new broader demands. None of this requires a reliance on the labour or social justice bureaucracies -- it also doesn't exclude tactical or strategic alliances.


1) Expand resident association "rights" beyond the privilege of homeowners and towards including tenants. The formation of separate tenant associations and of broader neighbourhood associations helps "erode the rationale for absentee landlordism."

My co-op was instrumental in changing the neighbourhood association from a homeowner's to a resident's association -- in form if not practice. There are annual meetings and newsletters that are relatively democratic. There's also a lot of transience in my neighbourhood. The association is essentially petty bourgeois and that ain't gonna change.

OCAP ran an interesting campaign about ten years ago around "Use or lose it!" -- calling for the expropriation of properties landowners were holding onto for speculation purposes, rather than simply renting for residential or commerical use. It was a good campaign with a few minor victories.

[Die Neue Zeit]

JR. I think you are making a basic mistake. Putting a program apart from the defensive struggles we're engaged in

Actually, I think you're confusing a program for a platform.

Transitory action platforms (TAPs) are more appropriate documents for outlining the march of defensive struggles. Please PM or e-mail me a reminder to e-mail you a document on TAPs.

However, a full-blown political program is about the conquest of ruling-class political power and much more.


actually moves the development of an effective socialist program away from the movement necessary to implement it

The 1990s haven't seen the development of an effective socialist program like Paul Cockshott's in the Theory forum (European economic transition). They haven't even seen the development of an effective radical reform program (Chapters 6 and 7 of my programmatic work).


Here there have developed processes in which coalition partners to the left of the NDP are developing ideas and common practice which could push our defensive struggles to create new broader demands. None of this requires a reliance on the labour or social justice bureaucracies -- it also doesn't exclude tactical or strategic alliances.

You lost me here. :confused:


My co-op was instrumental in changing the neighbourhood association from a homeowner's to a resident's association -- in form if not practice. There are annual meetings and newsletters that are relatively democratic. There's also a lot of transience in my neighbourhood. The association is essentially petty bourgeois and that ain't gonna change.

OCAP ran an interesting campaign about ten years ago around "Use or lose it!" -- calling for the expropriation of properties landowners were holding onto for speculation purposes, rather than simply renting for residential or commerical use. It was a good campaign with a few minor victories.

Damn, that's a third revision now:

"Limitation of residential writs of possession and eviction for the benefit of private parties to non-renewals for purposes other than gentrification and speculation"?

Of course, given how my Draft Program looks, this should be much shorter to accommodate the other "right to the city" demands. :(

[Die Neue Zeit]

Termination/non-renewal of a lease is a basic right for property owners. I have heard of circumstances where the law provides for perpetual possession so long as the original tenant pays the rent. But this is rare.

Lynx, fourth revision:

Limiting all residential writs of possession and eviction for the benefit of private parties to cases of tenant neglect...

That should also address blake's concern above re. speculation.



Demand draft:

The combating of residential gentrification and speculation by first means of...

Expanding resident association guarantees beyond the privilege of homeowners and towards the formation of separate tenant associations,

Limiting all residential writs of possession and eviction for the benefit of private parties to cases of tenant neglect, AND

Establishing comprehensive tax and other financial preferences for renting over home ownership.

[Lynx]

There's just one small loophole: suppose the building needs to be torn down and a new one built *but not* for the purposes of gentrification. An apartment building gets replaced by another of similar quality. Surely there would be wiggle room for issuing notices of non-renewal, no?
On the face of it, replacing an older building with a newer one may be in the best interests of the community. Are you comfortable leaving this particular decision in the hands of owners/landlords? (From your 4th revision, your answer appears to be "no")

[Die Neue Zeit]

Come to think of it, I think there should be negotiations between the owners/landlords and tenant associations with information fully disclosed by both sides (I still don't trust the other side ;) ). With such negotiations based on the fulfillment of #1, there would still be fulfillment of #2 in its recent incarnation (no writs needed after negotiations).