>Rent is calculated to be the absolute maximum you can afford.
As time goes on the wealthy constantly chisel away at the net worth of the peasants. We're rapidly returning to feudalism.

You've got it right on the nose with this part: Rents eat all gains. It's like the Red Queen said:

>“My dear, here we must run as fast as we can, just to stay in place. And if you wish to go anywhere you must run twice as fast as that.”

As productivity and pay go up, that means landlords can increase rents to capture those gains. Likewise, as society's spending decreases to make slack in our budgets, rents will still go up because now people can pay more for housing. The steady-state is a nation of serfs that can barely afford their rents

The only solution is to stop subsidizing land ownership, fairly tax land, and likewise distribute the benefits to society at large: Land should be seen as a liability to hold, not a pass to print money.