My FiL owns a few properties that he rents out. He “retired” at 49. Now he spends most of his day, every day, either improving empty/not ready properties, or maintaining the currently rented properties. The people he rents to simply cannot afford a house, at any price, or they do not have the time and skills or maintain their own home. He’s only evicted one person in his time as a landlord, literally because the tenant didn’t pay for 6 months, turned the property into a drug den and went on the run when the police tried to serve a warrant.
I get that landlords on the surface level can be seen as predatory, and I agree that there are a disproportionate amount of scum and anti-humam business drones in the rental business; but its important to remember that there are genuine people who buy, maintain and rent out properties so that their community isn’t rife with dangerous dilapidated buildings filled with squatters.