Partially it will, but mostly it won't, because it won't be an aggregate change, as you will need to increase taxes to the middle and upper income thresholds in

Partially it will, but mostly it won't, because it won't be an aggregate change, as you will need to increase taxes to the middle and upper income thresholds in order to pay it. It also is being given people, not directly to the area, so if rents are raised in one area, people can move away from it. This isn't the case with infrastructure improvements such as road/rail/schools/electricity improvements. The likely effect will be that cheap housing will increase in price, but it will be bounded by moderate housing (i.e. for those people who don't see a real terms change in their post-tax/benefits income). The other point, is that that the sector most dramatically affected by this will be the homeless and unemployed. An interesting question is to what extent the basic income should be linked to inflation and differential cost of living (e.g. should it be more for people who live in San Francisco as San Francisco is expensive, or should it be equal because we don't care where people live).