As the nationwide housing crisis plays out, Connecticut renters are coming together with tenants and their advocates in other states to call for change.
Connecticut is one of eleven confirmed states participating in town hall forums during August, though more states may be added. Renters, unhoused residents and their advocates are expected to attend.
The organizer, the Center for Popular Democracy, said other states ranging from Maine to California are also participating in its House Everyone! Campaign. Some states will host multiple town halls, with a total of 16 nationwide.
The advocacy group is calling on state representatives to crack down on corporate landlords accused of rent gouging. One of the goals is to establish rent caps and invest in affordable tenant-owned, green housing.
In a statement the Center for Popular Democracy said, “Profit-driven corporate landlords and Wall Street investors are buying up a record portion of homes sold, and are exacerbating the housing crisis for working families by making housing unaffordable and driving up homelessness.”
The organization said corporate landlords are making rent and homeownership unattainable. It is supporting a push to create a rent cap that would help establish more permanent affordable housing.
“By cracking down on corporate landlords, capping rents, and mobilizing public resources to create truly affordable green social housing, instead of arresting the homeless, representatives must take action when elected to alleviate this crisis,” the statement read.
Housing advocacy group Make the Road Connecticut will hold the town hall with elected officials outside its Hartford office on Wethersfield Avenue on Saturday, Aug. 31 at 11 a.m.
