Two things can be right. I don’t know how affordable/subsidized housing works. And the gentrification of neighborhoods often has me wondering, literally, what happened to all those people. And I believe there should be infrastructure in place for access to housing. With that out of the way, real estate is an investment (as well as a place to live if your investment is your house.) and any investment has risks and rewards. I plan on selling my house in a few years. So between now and then I have list of upgrades and improvements I want to make to maximize my return on that investment. Which is moral. And responsible for my family. In the case of your landlord, maybe they are in the same position. They took a substantial risk in investing in that property and now or trying to maximize that return…also moral; also responsible.