[jade-cat]

Decommodification does not imply centralization, nor does it mean losing ownership of your housing. Commons have been used by people for a long time before the idea of housing markets or central control came along. Most often when I see the idea floated around w/ regards to housing it links ownership with use - if you live at your house, you have control over it. But noone can say "I control the home where someone else lives, because I have a paper that says so."

[throwaway316943]

Sounds like the concept of squatter’s rights. How do I prevent others from “using” my property and preventing or impinging on my use of it? What happens if I build a home and go on vacation only to come back and find someone living in it? Why would anyone have incentive to invest their time into new construction? Would people bother to maintain the property they are using or would they just pack up and leave once they had sufficiently trashed it? How does this use concept apply to food as mentioned in the quote? Private property solves all of these so any alternative must also provide workable solutions.