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Soupkitchn89 t1_it9qz4i wrote

Reply to comment by Smooth_Imagination in Many countries have a "hidden welfare state" for incumbent homeowners, as governments subsidize homeowners through the tax system. The homeownership welfare state is strongest in the US and other Anglophone countries, but weakest in the Scandinavian countries. by smurfyjenkins

For sure. I just think making housing cost less then it should in a given market is the wrong way to make affordable housing I guess. I think more should be able to afford homes but I don’t think everyone should be able to afford a home everywhere. Like it doesn’t make sense to require affordable housing in the most desirable areas. Then we get situations where a poor person can live there and a rich person can live there but no one in between. I think getting rid of homes as rentals would greatly increase supply and help alleviate the issue. As well as all other types of investment groups buying single family homes at all.

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Smooth_Imagination t1_it9ujgt wrote

Yeah I agree, micromanagement like that is undesirable for many reasons.

I think where the solution lies is in separating out lending and finance for new builds / restoration vs existing housing. Where a market is plainly overheated encouragement of planning applications for affordable housing to stimulate new supply is different than, say encouraging higher lending for mortgages on existing already built housing stock, that just keeps its price going up, edit or as you point out, financing existing property accumulation by land lords.

The way we do it, which is potentially effective if it was done faster, is that councils are told how many houses they need to bring online to meet population demands, and a fraction of that needs to be affordable. If it falls below its target for long enough those councils are fined. Its up to them to decide where planning submissions are approved for that. I favour high density developments near towns personally, as also transport costs are less and residents have access to jobs.

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