Draft:Universal basic housing/Avoid unnecessary maintenance

For universal basic housing

Some examples of work worth doing, if it comes up:

• Fixing broken leaky pipes
• Fixing any electrical hazards
• Fixing any structural issues
• Containing (or very carefully removing) lead paint(...)( must be done in a way that doesn't contaminate a tenant's possessions )
• ↑ These things are essential, and hopefully are rare enough to not drive up the cost of housing too much.

Some examples of work that's NOT worth doing:

• Replacing floors or carpets, just for the look(...)( Or even replacing "old" floors & carpets that have stains, but are still perfectly safe to walk on. Such replacement is a waste of resources, and disturbs tenants for no good reason. )
• Throwing out old furniture (that isn't broken, just worn) and buying new
• Replacing the countertops just because they have stains from cooking
• Replacing one style with another

Compared to the status quo

Under capitalism, landlords try to attract rich high-paying tenants, by "investing" in the kind of renovations that make the place look better. This costs far more(...)( both in terms of money and environmental impact ) than the occasional basic repairs required to keep the place liveable (which some landlords neglect btw). Landlords are so used to doing this, they think it's completely normal, and will say sh*t like "you have no idea how much it costs to maintain the property bro".

An example of a vicious circle that leads to wasteful renovations:

• Landlord has a vacant apartment, wants to rent it out, look at the kitchen, sees stains on the counters & cupboards, thinks "no one is gonna want this!", and then replaces the kitchen interior.
• New tenant moves in, lives there for a year or two, uses the kitchen regularly, and some minor stains build up over time, as is normal. Nothing truly damaged, but the kitchen doesn't look brand new anymore.
• Tenant moves out. Landlord looks at the kitchen and thinks "ew, disgusting! look how much they fowled my property!", keeps the tenant's deposit, and replaces the kitchen interior once again. The landlord "feels cheated" because the deposit didn't cover the full "repair". The landlord decides to raise the rent even more next time. Meanwhile the tenant was actually cheated out of their deposit.
• The cycle continues...

Personally I'd rather live in a place that already has stains, so I don't have to be so hypervigilant about accidentally dripping something and making more stains. I like to actually use my kitchen thank you very much, not have it just sit there looking pretty. I think most of us tenants want a roof over our heads, not a show room.
Elie (talk) 23:35, 6 June 2026 (EDT)

See also

• Housing (back to main page)