The housing crisis is now global. It shows just how undemocratic our nations have become | Leilani Farha

The housing crisis has gone global, highlighting how undemocratic our nations have become. Leilani Farha, the former UN special rapporteur on adequate housing, has observed this trend firsthand. In Toronto, she encountered a homeless man living in a tent surrounded by new skyscrapers, who questioned whether those buildings were built for him.

This sentiment is shared by people worldwide, as they feel their living conditions are not being shaped by democratic processes but rather by financial actors such as private equity firms and pension funds. These entities have decoupled housing prices from ordinary people's earnings and transformed homes into investments for the wealthy.

They wield significant influence over housing policy, lobbying against rent-control laws, funding political campaigns, and even rotating in and out of government positions. For example, in Denmark, a ban on rent increases for renovated apartments was weakened due to pressure from landlords and pension funds. The average person, whether experiencing homelessness or struggling to enter the housing market, has only their vote to exert influence, which rarely changes the economic policies that perpetuate rising rents.

The economic model favors money flowing into unproductive assets like real estate rather than public investment in housing. While people can change their governments, the economic policies they adhere to remain largely unchanged. The question arises: can a place be considered democratic when housing is governed by financial firms and profit, rather than human needs?

Across the globe, people are demanding answers to this question, as witnessed by events in Madrid where an elderly woman was evicted from her 71-year-old flat after the owner increased the rent to an unaffordable €2,650 per month.