Nearly all over the world, #housing is becoming more and more unaffordable.
Politicians' response is almost everywhere the same: "Let investors build more homes. Markets will then do their magic and push prices down."
Whilst obviously more homes need to be built, this argument is still fallacious, as it ignores the most basic rule of #capitalism:
Capital will only go where high returns on investments are to be expected. This means:
Only where sell prices and rents are rising,
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new flats and houses are going to be built.
This means one thing: Only public investment, without looking at yields, is able to provide affordable living space at scale.
This obviously applies to other areas as well:
Once basic human needs are transformed into commodities, they are becoming scarce and unaffordable in the long run.
Privatisation is never the answer.
More info:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVbdPeEfn80
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@mina the problem also coes due to mis-regulation (#US-style Euclidean Zoning instead if mixed-use neighbourhoods, abritrary bs limits in terms of building heights that prevent densefication) and lack of regulation (no mandate for affordable housing; allowing luxury condos to dominate).
Mina
Kevin Karhan