Homes, Not Assets
Ways to Fight Real Estate Financialization Locally
The American housing system at all geographic and economic levels operates under a fundamental dialectical contradiction. Housing is simultaneously a biological necessity for human survival (its use value) and a highly financialized asset used for wealth accumulation (its exchange value). In a purely market-dependent framework, these two functions are entirely irreconcilable. The mandate of the financial market is to maximize yield. That intrinsically requires restricting supply, driving up rents, and prioritizing luxury developments over baseline shelter. Relying 100% on the private market is a structurally inefficient and destructive way to meet a population’s diverse housing needs. It generates extreme wealth for institutional investors while creating systemic displacement for the working class.
In New Milford, Connecticut, this macroeconomic contradiction manifests locally. We have a mature, stabilized municipal landscape facing an acute “missing middle” housing shortage. Decades of prioritizing large-scale commercial grand list expansion and opposing state housing mandates have protected local zoning control, but at the cost of working-class stability. The reliance on private development has failed to yield affordable units. Developers are mathematically incentivized to build either luxury single-family homes or large complexes that bypass local control via state statutes.
From my socialist informed perspective, resolving this contradiction requires decommodifying portions of the housing stock without waiting for an immediate, large-scale federal overhaul. Over the next five years, New Milford can implement highly viable, community-centric strategies to build a local alternative to the private market and improve the material conditions of existing housing:
Municipal Housing Trust Funds via Value Capture: By legally invoking Connecticut General Statutes, the town can mandate inclusionary zoning fees on large private developers. This extracts capital from the speculative market and redirects it into a protected municipal lockbox to fund community housing without burdening the local taxpayer.
NOAH Rent Covenants: Instead of permanent deed restrictions that alienate individual homeowners, the town can issue direct, short-term capital grants to local landlords for property repairs in exchange for legally binding rent caps. This preserves Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing (NOAH). It separates the unit’s operational cost from speculative market rates.
Safe Housing Amnesty & ADU Legalization: To improve the material safety of the existing housing stock, the Town must address the shadow market of unpermitted Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs). Tenants in these units are highly vulnerable to exploitation and unsafe conditions, fearing eviction if they report code violations. A Safe Housing Amnesty program allows landlords to voluntarily report unpermitted units without facing retroactive fines. The unit undergoes a “Triage Inspection” by the Fire Marshal, which ignores aesthetic zoning rules and strictly evaluates life-safety compliance, such as egress windows and septic capacity. If upgrades are needed, the municipal Trust Fund pays for the repairs in exchange for the landlord signing a Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing (NOAH) Covenant, legally capping the rent. In return, the Town amends the Zoning Code (Section 025-090) to grant an “Affordable Housing Incentive,” waiving the restrictive 55+ age requirement and public hearing process, thereby legalizing the unit “as of right”. This directly protects working-class tenants from unsafe conditions while expanding affordable units without requiring new corporate construction.
Community Land Trusts (CLTs) for Working-Class Equity: Transitioning land into collectively governed, non-profit ownership models permanently removes the underlying land from the speculative market. The CLT retains ownership of the land while individuals purchase and own the physical structures. Crucially, this model still allows the homeowner to build personal wealth. While resale profits are capped to maintain affordability for the next buyer, the separation of land costs from structure costs creates a significantly lower income barrier to homeownership. This framework provides a vital mechanism for working-class residents who have been structurally locked out of the housing market for decades, allowing them to accumulate equity rather than remaining confined to a perpetual rental cycle.
Scattered-Site Social Housing via Municipal-CLT Partnership: True decommodification requires structural changes in public ownership. Rather than relying solely on private landlords or creating a massive new municipal bureaucracy, New Milford can use the Affordable Housing Trust Fund to acquire existing “missing middle” housing—such as duplexes or small, 3-to-4-unit properties—as they come on the market. Upon acquisition, the Town retains the deed to the underlying land in perpetuity. The Town then executes a long-term ground lease with the local, democratically governed CLT, which takes ownership of the physical structures and manages tenant operations. Rents in these units are calculated based purely on the cost of maintenance and operation, completely divorced from regional market inflation. This bifurcated model integrates permanently affordable social housing seamlessly into existing neighborhoods without constructing large-scale apartment complexes.
Let’s be clear about what these strategies are and what they are not. They do not overthrow the private real estate market. They are harm reduction. They are designed to operate directly inside the current capitalist system to stop the bleeding. They give working-class and poor residents a way to survive, secure safe shelter, and build stability right now, using the municipal tools we actually have available. However, executing any of these simple solutions will require the actual political will of municipal leaders and residents alike. It demands a genuine commitment to improving the material well-being of residents at all economic levels—not just the demographic that reliably votes for them, and certainly not just the local business elites who donate to their campaigns.
But we cannot regulate our way out of a systemic contradiction. The private market will always prioritize the wealth of a few at the top over the survival of the many. A system built on profit cannot be permanently patched to care about people. The only real, long-term solution is a complete systemic transition. We have to move away from a top-down, market-dictated capitalist economy. We must build a socialist, working-class system where housing is guaranteed as a human right and controlled by the people who live in it, rather than traded as a financial asset by those who don’t.
Until that broader transition happens, we fight locally. We use these municipal policies to take back as much land and housing as we can, protecting our neighbors while we
build toward a system that actually serves them.