18 August

There is only one answer to the housing and rental crisis. And it’s also simple. Governments need to become property developers again. They need to build and sell and rent lots of houses, at much lower rates than the ‘market’. Like they used to. That will drive prices down across the board. It will also be a great earner for government, not a cost. For those who say that will lower the value of existing homeowner’s homes, remember that’s what the plan about ‘more supply’ is supposed to do as well. Drive prices and rents down. Notice developers, landlords and homeowners never object to the ‘more supply’ idea, because they know it drives prices, rents (and their wealth) UP.