[Plasmoid]

Landlords aren't in the property business. They're in the liquidity business.

I know it sounds weird but that's their function in society, they are one of the many "business lubricant" sellers that allow modern society to work.

A liquidity provider is someone who makes transactions easier. The insurance company will insure you against risk does this. The lender who provides loans does this. The landlord who rents property does this.

You can run an economy without them, but things will cost more and take longer to happen.

[ruined]

liquidity matters to commodity markets that transact often. the flipside of liquidity is instability.

treating real estate as a commodity, not as an intimate necessity of everyday life, helps no one except speculators and rent seekers, at the expense of everyone else doing productive work.

[s1artibartfast]

That assumes they are not doing productive work.

Examine the alternative. Should small businesses purchase the space all out, from developers or brokers? If this is so much more efficient, why don't they do so?

Similarly, you could ask the same of residential renters. What would happen if we simply banned all new rental contracts. Would access improve or diminish?