Home Renting Comes From Slavery?
With the average home monthly rental rate in the UK rising to 937 pounds and $1800 in Australia...letâs take a look at the increasingly popular lifestyle choice of home renting and how it may be tying you back from freedom.Â
Between 6000 years ago in ancient Mesopotamia in today's Iraq and 4000 years ago in ancient Egypt or (aka Kemet), the first renters were peasant farmers (or sharecroppers) who were tied back to the bottom of the social pyramid along with slaves.(5,14) Often referred to as "tenant farming" landowners told them what to grow and they had to pay a portion of their harvest (usually HALF) as rent back to the landowner. Paying half of their income often left families with barely enough to eat. Now remember that figure HALF...we'll revisit that again later.Â
Now 2500 years ago in ancient Rome the tenant - landowner relationship had evolved slightly with early attempts to implement rent control, building codes etc.(6,7) Wealthy landowners named "patricians" still had slaves as they were prisoners of war but allowed them along with "plebians" (the term for poor people back then) to rent living areas at sky-high rates - sustaining the wide gap between the rich and the poor. Proof of the profitability and inequitable distribution of wealth as a result of renting back then is a man named Marcus Licinius Crassus. Marcus lived in Rome from 115BC to 53BC. He was a major developer and real estate mogul and known as the richest man in Rome and some say the richest that ever lived! After some of his small inner city properties burned down he was known as saying that he was happy as he could now charge higher rental prices on newly constructed tenant homes.(20)
Now in order to have a so-called landowner some type of property right had to be established first. In those days, this usually was at the will of Kings and Queens. 800 years ago, this changed with infamous Magna Carta - the first legal document in the West to clearly place the King under the law and establish property rights and taxation for the free men but most people were not free men (or women). They were peasants called villeins or serfs and had to work the land of the free men - for life. The only way out was to purchase a plot of land and pay dues to the lord - the guy he or she just bought the land from.(15) Very few were able to save up enough money to get out of feudal renting.
Moving forward to the early 1800s in the U.S. Â There were areas where African American slaves were "freed" and these ex-slaves continued to work for their previous owners because often times the homes they lived in were located on their ex-owners property and they had built them themselves. As free people they had two options if they wanted to stay in their homes: pay rent or work more daily hours on the estate. The former, paying rent was a calculated move to diminish the net earnings from sales of their provisions in local markets and to make the ex-slave more dependent on WAGES for his livelihood. Forcing slaves into a home rental obligation quickly changed their titles from slave owner to landlord and employer and the ex-slave to renter and employee.
Towards the late 1800s and early 1900s, stories of tenement housing for America's early European immigrants also tell of terrible living conditions at the will of property owners.(8,10) And in colonial South Africa, the dispossession of Africans and the eventual renting scheme sealed a power balance in favor of the European invaders.
HOME RENTING'S IMPACT ON YOUR MONEY
Now, let's take a look at how home renting impacts your money.
Depending on the housing market you're in, it may be cheaper to rent than to finance a home or vice versa but in either scenario you'll end up paying thousands of dollars.(16)(17) In renting's case, over a 30 year period, 30-50% of your income will be lost. For the average earner that's about $720,000.00 in Australia, $470,000.00 in the United States, or $351,000.00 in the UK!(18,19) Now, the Australian Bureau of Statistics says housing rent is increasing twice as fast as wages and if you're renting a home in the U.S. a report by Zillow states "the cost of renting in the U.S. has risen to its least affordable ever, taking up a record proportion of income in most major cities with many paying 30% of the monthly income and LA renters paying 50% of their hard earned cash to a landlord every month!(4,21)
So do the math...how much have you paid in rent over the years? Is it enough to buy a home? It may have been enough to buy 20! We'll explore that later!
P.S. If you fall into the middle-class or low-income bracket did you know you pay a disproportionately higher amount on energy bills than the rich? This is because the home you pay rent on is often using older, outdated appliances and is not properly insulated.(25)
HOME RENTING'S IMPACT ON YOUR TIMEÂ Renting also impacts our time. In the U.S. a full-time employee works 40 hours a week plus an additional 10 hours a week of commute and with 70% of us unhappy with our jobs that's 50 hours a week that could rather be spent (26):
BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS! For many, working full-time hours are necessary to pay today's rental rates and after other daily errands leaves less time for hanging out with friends or significant others.
LEARNING NEW SKILLS! What did you enjoy doing as a child when the time seem to pass quickly? Do you still do that today? Do you take time out for personal development or to enjoy your favorite hobby? With 70% of us working jobs we don't enjoy this may be useful in skilling up to a new career. Unfortunately, using up 50 hours per week (30-50% of that to pay rent) takes time away from developing this.
BUILDING AWARENESS! Aristotle once said "The ultimate value of life depends upon awareness and the power of contemplation rather than upon mere survival." Are you working to survive?Jack Canfield said "By taking the time to stop and appreciate who you are and what you've achieved - and perhaps learned through a few mistakes, stumbles and losses - you actually can enhance everything about you. Self-acknowledgment and appreciation are what give you the insights and awareness to move forward toward higher goals and accomplishments." For those of you working full-time do you have time left over to reflect, contemplate...be aware? (27)
COOKING (OR FOR SOME OF US LEARNING TO COOK)! After a long 9 hour day (3 - 4.5 hours of which go towards your rent) do you have enough time to prepare healthy meals and learn new recipes? How often do you eat out or prepare processed food to compensate for a lack of time?
HOME RENTING'S IMPACT ON THE ENVIRONMENT
Housing development for renting can has big impacts on the environment from land degradation to water and food supply pressures. When buildings are built they require a massive amount of natural resources and most were built without sustainability or the planet in mind. Now that they're here though, here's two ways rental homes are impacting the environment post-construction:
LANDLORD BLIND EYE - THE SPLINT INCENTIVE PROBLEM The first is called, "split incentive". Now, the average Australian home is responsible for one fifth of Australia's green house emissions (with similar stats in U.S.) mainly due to poor building design, resistance to switch to renewable energy sources and outdated appliances. (28) Most of the time when you rent out a home or apartment the landlord or principle is responsible for buying all of the energy using stuff in a home like appliances, air conditioners, etc while the tenant gets stuck paying the energy bills. This gives incentive for landlords to turn a blind eye to investing in more eco-friendly efficient facilities. (22) Â
THE POVERTY CYCLE PROBLEMÂ The other issue is the poverty cycle problem. According to a 2015 report from the Australia Housing and Urban Research Institute renters are more likely to experience poverty and housing stress than home owners and because they shovel out 30 - 50% of their income on rent they have a difficult time adjusting to higher energy prices and the ability to invest in more energy saving appliances or infrastructure. (BTW they mention that landlords stand to get richer by investing in carbon and water reducing facilities as they can then sell their home or unit or even worse...charge higher rents again!) Even if you had the money to get those cool solar panels on sale, most regions have local tenant policies which prohibit renters to make alterations to a rental property. Did you know that 37% of homes in the U.S and 30% of homes in Australia are rented? That means there's millions and millions of homes where the owner (the only one that can make changes to the property) has no responsibility for the guzzling up of our water and energy supplies. (23, 24) Â
LESS MONEY, LESS GREENÂ Okay, so we've learned that home renters are more financially strained than homeowners - paying out 30 - 50% of their weekly paychecks to fatten the wallets of their landlord's and, as a result, have less cash to spend on stuff than ever before. What's the impact? Well, let's take Sally for example. She rents a 2 bedroom apartment with her son in the city. After paying rent and utilities, she needs to go to the grocery store to buy food. Heading down the first aisle she sees some bread - one loaf is locally made using organic ingredients for $4.99 and the other is made 1500 miles away using chemically laced ingredients for $1.79 a loaf. She looks at her son and wishes she could grab the organic loaf but chooses the cheap one. She goes down the cleaning aisle and chooses the cheap chemically laced cleaner over the eco, gray water safe one again because she has to stretch her remaining dollars until the next paycheck. House renting ties most of us back in a system of perpetual poverty - and provides a barrier to being smart, eco-conscious consumers and with the low-income segment getting larger and larger that's bad news for the planet. On top of that, the U.S. and Australia have the largest homes in the world with the average U.S. apartment clocking in at 982 sq m - giving us the illusion that we need to fill that empty space with more stuff - stuff we often can't afford - that stresses us out and leads to compulsive behaviours like binge eating, drinking, gambling or numbing it all out with television where we watch more illusion-driven commercials that tighten the ropes of our consumer slavery. (29)
"Now, let's cut ourselves free!" Renting and home ownership sends the average person back a few hundred thousand dollars with the average home purchase debt repayment at --years so here are some unconventional and lower-cost alternatives to the home renting and traditional home purchasing:
RENT TO OWNÂ In this option some of your hard earned money goes to build equity - adding wealth to YOUR bottom line.Â
TINY HOMESÂ Have you heard of the Tiny House movement? People with no prior building skills have built tiny homes, sometimes on trailers to add mobility that cost less than $10,000 and are fully off-grid as well - with no utility bills! One may be required to rethink space for this to work. (Oh and remember your calculation above on how much you've spent so far in rent? How many $10,000 dollar homes could you own by now? My calculation was 19.2 homes!)
CONVERSION VANS OR RVSÂ For the less crafty of us, living in a converted van, campervan or RV is an option. Depending on what you think you need inside, this lifestyle beats a cookie-cutter home in price and travel and adventure-friendly.
SCHOOL BUS CONVERSIONÂ For the ones who want it all, a classic (school) bus conversion into a home on wheels may be the ultimate alternative to spending tens of thousands of dollars in rent. lf you don't like your neighbour, you can move on. So with as little as a couple of thousand of dollars you could start becoming a real homeowner today. Here's a few examples of what others are doing to personalize their bus conversions.
BICYCLE HOMESÂ Bicycle home on wheels cost about $3,000 and offer a home with the ability to travel! Check some out here!
Another roadblock to escape the rent trap may be in your head. You may be asking: what will my friends and family say? Is it safe? Will I be able to adjust to this lifestyle? Well, there's lots of resources to help answer those questions...we'll list some below. It's your life and you should be in charge of deciding what to do with it: continuing to be tied back by spending 40 hours a week chasing money to enrich a stranger because it is the "norm" or cuting loose by rejecting that concept and seeking out alternatives - cause they're out there! So go for it!
Thanks to all who have shared their tiny home or home on wheel experiences and who've come up with technology and gadgets to help us get out of the rent trap.Â
What would you like our next video to be about? Let us know below and if we pick yours we'll give you a shout out! If you liked this video please hit like and subscribe to get more videos each month. If you would like to support us plus get some boho freedom goodies, head over to our Patreon page!
Freedom may be a chard away!Â
1 https://books.google.com.au/books?id=JdbNzvZvBpkC&pg=PA95&lpg=PA95&dq=home+renting+a+form+of+slavery&source=bl&ots=Yf10-j-3Mg&sig=i9ylJtI9PIUjMP4rCzUPOnBnTnE&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjiso7z6sDJAhVjPKYKHcFGAzcQ6AEILTAD#v=onepage&q=home%20renting%20a%20form%20of%20slavery&f=falseÂ
2 http://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1583&context=clr
3 http://accessevictions.com/landlord-tenant-law/a-short-history-of-landlord-tenant-law/
4 http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2014/04/aussie-rent-is-increasing-twice-as-fast-as-wages/
5 https://books.google.com.au/books?id=gEXCIH4tek8C&pg=PA60&lpg=PA60&dq=mesopotamia+tenant+housing&source=bl&ots=vhL4U90BxK&sig=bM0nB-Vsnj3Vn_RLTbzcShPf63A&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj2gKaJh9LJAhWl56YKHYidBJYQ6AEIPzAG#v=onepage&q=mesopotamia%20tenant%20housing&f=falseÂ
6 https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insula
7 https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cenaculum
8 http://www.history.com/topics/tenements
9 http://www.thesaurus.com/browse/freedom
10 http://wiredspace.wits.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10539/275/13_chapter1.pdf?sequence=13
11 History of Rent Control laws (1950) at http://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1583&context=clr
12 Rent History: Part 1 From Pyramids to Pool Houses, How Rent History Applies Today https://rentpost.com/blog/other/from-pyramids-to-poolhouses-rent-history-and-how-it-applies-today/
13 Rent History: Part 2 The Footsteps of Our Predecessors https://rentpost.com/blog/other/a-continuation-rents-history-the-footsteps-of-our-predacessors/
14 Cultural Sociology of the Middle East, Asia, and Africa: An Encyclopedia  edited by Andrea L. Stanton, Edward Ramsamy, Peter J. Seybolt, Carolyn M. Elliott at https://books.google.com.au/books?id=nVN2AwAAQBAJ&pg=RA1-PA27&lpg=RA1-PA27&dq=social+society+in+ancient+egypt+rent+housing&source=bl&ots=eWIW3tK_dA&sig=9ZxKICMhlMCM58ubGM7i5rxgZcQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwit94zBtubJAhVhnqYKHcWTBSI4FBDoAQggMAA#v=onepage&q=social%20society%20in%20ancient%20egypt%20rent%20housing&f=false
15 http://www.thefinertimes.com/Middle-Ages/peasants-in-the-middle-ages.html
16 https://www.quora.com/Is-it-cheaper-over-the-course-of-a-lifetime-to-rent-or-to-buy-a-house
17 http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/mortgageshome/article-2161147/Rent-vs-buy-Owning-home-194k-cheaper-lifetime.html
18 https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2015/demo/p60-252.pdf
19 http://www.reinisfischer.com/average-salary-european-union-2015
20 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insula_(building), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Licinius_CrassusÂ
21 http://www.cnbc.com/2015/08/16/rents-rise-to-crazy-levels-zillow.html
22 The Environmental Sustainability of Australia's Housing Stock http://www.ahuri.edu.au/downloads/publications/EvRevReports/AHURI_Positioning_Paper_No125_The_environmental_sustainability_of_Australia_s_private_rental_housing_stock.pdf
23 http://nmhc.org/Content.aspx?id=4708
24 https://hia.com.au/~/media/HIA%20Website/Files/Media%20Centre/Policies/Environmental%20Performance%20of%20Existing%20Houses.ashx
25 http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/carbon-footprint-of-rich-twice-that-of-poor/2007/06/15/1181414549948.htmlÂ
26 http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/70-u-s-workers-hate-job-poll-article-1.1381297
27 http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/awareness.html
28 http://www.yourhome.gov.au/energy
29 http://www.apartmentguide.com/blog/how-does-apartment-square-footage-stack-up-worldwide/
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