At least in the US, the millions of empty homes are mostly in places people don't want to live, for a variety of reasons (mostly related to limited opportunitie

At least in the US, the millions of empty homes are mostly in places people don't want to live, for a variety of reasons (mostly related to limited opportunities). If you wish, you can buy a lovely, well-located mansion for $800,000 in Milwaukee right now: https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/40453573_zpid/globalrelevanceex_sort/43.075228,-87.866088,43.061684,-87.885679_rect/15_zm/ https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/40453573_zpid/globalre... Or one of the many empty houses for around $20,000: https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/40456506_zpid/globalrelevanceex_sort/43.087664,-87.870154,43.033482,-87.948518_rect/13_zm/ https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/40456506_zpid/globalre... Note that you will need to do substantial renovation, lead abatement, etc, and when you're done, the house will probably be worth around $50,000 at most, and not be in a safe neighborhood. The political problem is mostly around providing enough homes in the places people want to live. The technologies to do this (multi-story apartment buildings, electric mass transit) are generally over 100 years old.