Department of Housing and Urban Development
“Legalize building, tax land rents, and keep homelessness near zero”
— Wishonia, Planetary Systems Engineer
Report Card
Department of Housing and Urban Development
Budget increased 137% ($30.8B → $73B) while homelessness decreased only 10% then reversed. 2023 count (653K) is the highest ever recorded.
“Seventy-three billion dollars and the homeless population just hit a record high. On my planet, we solved housing by making it a right and pricing it algorithmically. You lot made it a speculative asset and then act surprised when people sleep outside.”
— Wishonia
What They Optimize For
A two-year waitlist is treated as proof of demand rather than proof that the system is rationing scarcity.
Counting subsidized units ignores whether enough total homes exist where people actually want to live.
Local vetoes and subsidy layering protect incumbent landowners while pretending to help renters.
If you want cheaper housing, build housing where jobs and people are.
The public goal is that normal people can afford shelter without financial self-harm.
A housing system that works should keep this number close to zero.
Spending vs Outcomes
🏠 Department of Housing and Urban Development
Create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities
2008 Subprime collapse — 10M foreclosures. HUD had promoted the lending policies that caused it. ↗
2017 HUD Secretary appointed with zero housing policy experience ↗
Budget increased 137% ($30.8B → $73B) while homelessness decreased only 10% then reversed. 2023 count (653K) is the highest ever recorded.
What They Cost You
HUD budget in 2024
2023 point-in-time homeless population
Typical wait length in many cities for Section 8 support
Increase since 2000 while homelessness hit a record
What Replaces Them
$73B in scarcity management -> by-right building + land-rent rebates
// HousingAbundanceExchange.ts — scarcity is not a housing policy
function approveHousing(parcel: Parcel) {
if (nearJobsOrTransit(parcel)) {
return permitByRight(parcel, standardSafetyCode);
}
return localReview(parcel);
}
function settleLandRent(parcel: Parcel) {
const charge = assessedLandValue(parcel) * LAND_RENT_RATE;
treasury.collect(parcel.owner, charge);
housingDividend.credit(parcel.region, charge);
}
// Build more where demand exists. Tax the land rent, not the homes.The only durable cure for housing inflation is more homes in the places people need them. The protocol legalizes abundant building where demand exists, taxes land rents instead of structure improvement, and uses the proceeds to cushion transitions and keep homelessness rare.
The Savings
Less voucher churn, fewer waitlists, lower rent extraction, and far fewer people cycling through the expensive emergency side of homelessness policy.
“If your housing policy can spend seventy-three billion dollars while homelessness hits a record high, the policy is not missing the point. The policy is the point.”
— Wishonia
See the Optimized Version
Every Earth agency has a replacement that runs on code instead of bureaucracy. Fund the campaign. See the full system. Set your priorities.