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The primary constraint on housing supply in most developed economies is planning restrictions, and those could be lifted with the stroke of a pen. Allow densif

The primary constraint on housing supply in most developed economies is planning restrictions, and those could be lifted with the stroke of a pen. Allow densification, abolish green belts, reduce the friction and cost of obtaining planning permission, etc. The solution is simple, but it’s not politically viable when a majority of the population have a vested interest in property prices remaining high.

entropicdrifter 6y ago
It's not a majority of the population, it's a majority of the wealthy that have the vested interest. It just so happens that in the UK and US (among others), the wealthy get significantly more sway than anyone else.
- AnthonyMouse 6y ago
  Well no, there is actually a specific problem causing this -- most of these rules are at the local level and the people who get a vote in the local assembly are... local residents. Who are predominantly local homeowners. The home ownership rate in the US is ~65%. Since they already own a home, they want the price to go up rather than down, so they vote for that, and they still outnumber the tenants. Meanwhile the prospective new homeowners don't get a vote in the local elections because they don't live there yet. In theory this shouldn't happen in local areas where the tenants outnumber the homeowners, but then some jackass invented rent control for those areas, thereby giving the existing tenants an interest in maintaining the status quo and once again screwing over new tenants and prospective homeowners.
  - jgwil2 6y ago
    Why would living in a rent-controlled dwelling incentivize a tenant to constrain supply? If a new building goes up next door to me it's not going to make my rent go up.
    - bhupy 6y ago
      Rent-control doesn't incentivize a tenant to constrain supply. Tenants are incentivized to vote for rent control (for obvious reasons), and rent control has the unintended consequence of restricting supply — on average developers construct less housing in markets with rent controls than those without, relative to the demand. https://www.nber.org/papers/w24181 https://www.nber.org/papers/w24181
      - AnthonyMouse 6y ago
        Not only that, once the sum of property owners and tenants in rent-controlled apartments is a majority of the local population, there is no longer majority support for policies that lower market rate housing costs, because the tenants in rent-controlled apartments don't pay the market rate for housing.
- djmobley 6y ago
  In the UK it is a majority who are homeowners. 63% of households in England according to these government statistics: https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/housing/owning-and-renting/home-ownership/latest https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/housing/o...

entropicdrifter 6y ago

It's not a majority of the population, it's a majority of the wealthy that have the vested interest. It just so happens that in the UK and US (among others), the wealthy get significantly more sway than anyone else.

AnthonyMouse 6y ago
Well no, there is actually a specific problem causing this -- most of these rules are at the local level and the people who get a vote in the local assembly are... local residents. Who are predominantly local homeowners. The home ownership rate in the US is ~65%. Since they already own a home, they want the price to go up rather than down, so they vote for that, and they still outnumber the tenants. Meanwhile the prospective new homeowners don't get a vote in the local elections because they don't live there yet. In theory this shouldn't happen in local areas where the tenants outnumber the homeowners, but then some jackass invented rent control for those areas, thereby giving the existing tenants an interest in maintaining the status quo and once again screwing over new tenants and prospective homeowners.
- jgwil2 6y ago
  Why would living in a rent-controlled dwelling incentivize a tenant to constrain supply? If a new building goes up next door to me it's not going to make my rent go up.
  - bhupy 6y ago
    Rent-control doesn't incentivize a tenant to constrain supply. Tenants are incentivized to vote for rent control (for obvious reasons), and rent control has the unintended consequence of restricting supply — on average developers construct less housing in markets with rent controls than those without, relative to the demand. https://www.nber.org/papers/w24181 https://www.nber.org/papers/w24181
    - AnthonyMouse 6y ago
      Not only that, once the sum of property owners and tenants in rent-controlled apartments is a majority of the local population, there is no longer majority support for policies that lower market rate housing costs, because the tenants in rent-controlled apartments don't pay the market rate for housing.
djmobley 6y ago
In the UK it is a majority who are homeowners. 63% of households in England according to these government statistics: https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/housing/owning-and-renting/home-ownership/latest https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/housing/o...