This seems to be a fantastic idea. Make people property owners by their own efforts and hard work. Make absentee landlords pay for the actual costs society incurs because of them. Of course the rub on this would be the implementation. It would need to be done in such a way the the homesteaders were required to improve the property (as the Homesteading Act of 1862 did). It would need to be backed up by resources that would educate and enable people to participate. And it would need to have strict requirements that made sure that people did not abuse it.