Are there more homes without people than people without homes? This recurring claim had already been described as a “myth” by urban planner Nabil Bonduki in 2018, but the persistent suggestion of a simplistic formula for solving the housing crisis deserves to be addressed once again. Recently, an article in Folha de São Paulo by urban planner Alexandre Benoit suggested that the approximately 300,000 vacant properties in São Paulo could be designated to “eradicate the city’s housing deficit.”
The idea that “homes without people” could easily be used for housing has been repeated in recent years, by figures ranging from Guilherme Boulos, coordinator of the MTST, to the Polis Institute. However, this claim is unrealistic regarding the feasibility of using vacant properties for housing. Indeed, this aspect was not examined by Aos Fatos when checking Boulos’s statements on Roda Viva, as they focused strictly on the size of the housing deficit. The same goes for the piece by Luiza Rodrigues and Carlos Goés published on this site, which focuses on the criteria of what defines “homeless people”—a topic already covered and not the focus of this article.
