alt Hacker NewsNot the idea but in reality without government initiated land forced sale you need
1. Someone(s) to agree to sell some land
2. Usually several adjacent plots to have enough space to build - get them all to sell
3. Planning permission
4. Zoning (but we assume that is fixed here)
5. Profit in the proposed development
6. The buyer
So a lot is needed. Now game theoretically it may be better to be nimby.
Also some people wont sell they are sentiment motivated.
Replies
Neighbours can get together to sell their land together, then you can set minimum prices etc. Of course, it requires only one owner not to join for this to not work, but depending on their location they might experience a lower QoL due to construction and a changed neighbourhood if their neighbours sell.
> Someone(s) to agree to sell some land
If you rezone some area, there are already going to be some number of units on the market to begin with. Then add developers willing to pay more than the current market price because it has become profitable and you get even more.
> Usually several adjacent plots to have enough space to build - get them all to sell
This is by no means necessary. You buy one plot of land, replace a single house with a 5-story condo containing 10-20 units. The whole idea is that you don't need a lot of land but rather taller buildings.
> Planning permission
This is the same premise as zoning.
> Profit in the proposed development
If you can buy a unit for e.g. $500,000 and build 20 units that each sell for $350,000, that's likely to be profitable.
> The buyer
The problem we're trying to solve is the huge amount of unmet demand for housing. If you ran out of buyers the problem is solved.