The advocacy group Housing Movement 2.0 on Wednesday launched a month-long exhibition at a rented space in Taipei to satirize the nation’s high housing prices.
In a departure from its past outdoor protests, the organization partnered with National Taiwan University of Science and Technology design professor Lee Ken-tsai (李根在) to rent a space in Daan District (大安) to create the “Celestial Dragons House” (天龍房屋).
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiang Yung-chang (江永昌), New Power Party (NPP) Legislator Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智) and Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Tsai Pi-ru (蔡壁如) attended the opening ceremony, where offerings were displayed and guests held incense sticks to resemble a traditional ceremony sometimes held by real-estate agencies when a new office opens.
Photo: CNA
A crowdfunding campaign supported the project, which aims to attract greater public attention to the issue of high housing prices and the rental black market, group spokesman Peng Yang-kai (彭揚凱) said.
Besides holding events, the group hopes to use the space to collect people’s questions about housing to be discussed in the legislature, said Peng, who is also the secretary-general of the Organization of Urban Re-s.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Chiu said that housing affordability indicators in the six special municipalities had surpassed the rate deemed reasonable by the Ministry of the Interior.
Deputy Minister of the Interior Hua Ching-chun (花敬群) has claimed that the issue of housing affordability is “not too serious,” Chiu wrote, adding that Hua should return to the stand he held when he was a professor.
Hua responded with the comment that “shidai (時代) cockroaches are really dirty,” apparently referencing the first two characters of the NPP in Mandarin, and said that Chiu had repeatedly distorted his comments.
Chiu said at the opening that the exhibition gives government officials an opportunity to see the reality faced by young Taiwanese, and that he hoped Hua, who has since deleted and apologized for his comment, would visit.
The younger generation should not have to feel overwhelmed by housing problems, and government officials responsible for making policy decisions should be able to empathize with the public, Chiu said.
While the government has recently introduced measures to fight property speculation, even in regular times housing prices are considered high, Chiang said.
Despite there being enough vacant or new properties in the market, most people cannot afford to purchase or rent them, he said, adding that the government needs to review its policy.
The government should impose a tax on ownership of multiple properties to force out vacant houses, Tsai said.
Additional reporting by Huang Hsin-po and Wu Su-wei
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