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Housing Inc.: A Global Takeover and Our Fight for Home
288 pages, Paperback
Published September 8, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 21, 2026
Farha L. 2026. Housing Inc.: A Global Takeover and our Fight for Home. House of Anansi Press.
I have read many of the CBC Massey Lectures and Housing Inc. is among the best. The ones that I have found impactful are:
* A Short History of Progress
* Payback
* Winter
* The Truth About Stories
* Biology as Ideology
* The Wayfinders
* Player One
And now Housing Inc. is also included in that list for me.
What makes this book worth reading, makes it compelling reading is that Farha writes with an immediacy that arises from her personal experiences dealing with people who are homeless and with people who have been on the frontlines of confronting the present housing crisis. She cites numerous examples that detail the present crisis using personal real stories of those affected. She entitles her book Housing Inc. because her assessment is that housing is no longer about providing homes for people but rather is focused on providing investment opportunities for the wealthy to become wealthier. It is no longer about providing shelter so that people can live their lives without feeling their lives are under constant threat.
For me the bottom line of this book is that we need to replace our approach to housing from one of the financial bottom line to instead of one of love; love for our fellow human beings who are homeless or in a precarious home situation. Imagine that, that we consider our policies from a perspective of loving the people being affected by our housing policies and investments rather than return on investment. What if we treated housing with human compassion rather than from the point of view of our retirement portfolios?
Makes you think…
I have read many of the CBC Massey Lectures and Housing Inc. is among the best. The ones that I have found impactful are:
* A Short History of Progress
* Payback
* Winter
* The Truth About Stories
* Biology as Ideology
* The Wayfinders
* Player One
And now Housing Inc. is also included in that list for me.
What makes this book worth reading, makes it compelling reading is that Farha writes with an immediacy that arises from her personal experiences dealing with people who are homeless and with people who have been on the frontlines of confronting the present housing crisis. She cites numerous examples that detail the present crisis using personal real stories of those affected. She entitles her book Housing Inc. because her assessment is that housing is no longer about providing homes for people but rather is focused on providing investment opportunities for the wealthy to become wealthier. It is no longer about providing shelter so that people can live their lives without feeling their lives are under constant threat.
For me the bottom line of this book is that we need to replace our approach to housing from one of the financial bottom line to instead of one of love; love for our fellow human beings who are homeless or in a precarious home situation. Imagine that, that we consider our policies from a perspective of loving the people being affected by our housing policies and investments rather than return on investment. What if we treated housing with human compassion rather than from the point of view of our retirement portfolios?
Makes you think…
September 30, 2026
In Housing Inc.: A Global Takeover and Our Fight for Home, human rights advocate and former UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing Leilani Farha delivers an incisive, 288-page investigation into the financialization of global residential real estate. Farha uncovers how private equity firms, corporate landlords, and institutional investors have transformed housing from a foundational human right into a speculative asset class, driving widespread displacement, unaffordability, and homelessness across cities worldwide.
Farha’s expertise shines as she pairs high-level policy critique with frontline accounts of community resistance. She details the mechanisms of financialization from predatory equity to algorithmic rent-setting while offering a clear, actionable roadmap for legal, municipal, and grassroots intervention. Rather than treating the housing crisis as an inevitable economic byproduct, Housing Inc. reframes shelter as a non-negotiable human right and equips advocates, policymakers, and tenants with the conceptual and strategic tools needed to reclaim their homes and cities.
Urgent, authoritative, and deeply empowering, Housing Inc. is an essential recommendation for urban planners, human rights lawyers, municipal leaders, housing advocates, and political economists alongside works by Matthew Desmond (Evicted), Raquel Rolnik, and Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor.
Farha’s expertise shines as she pairs high-level policy critique with frontline accounts of community resistance. She details the mechanisms of financialization from predatory equity to algorithmic rent-setting while offering a clear, actionable roadmap for legal, municipal, and grassroots intervention. Rather than treating the housing crisis as an inevitable economic byproduct, Housing Inc. reframes shelter as a non-negotiable human right and equips advocates, policymakers, and tenants with the conceptual and strategic tools needed to reclaim their homes and cities.
Urgent, authoritative, and deeply empowering, Housing Inc. is an essential recommendation for urban planners, human rights lawyers, municipal leaders, housing advocates, and political economists alongside works by Matthew Desmond (Evicted), Raquel Rolnik, and Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor.
September 7, 2026
A must read.
September 16, 2026
A great book.learned lots.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews