3 ms·

I wonder if the key issue here is lack of housing in developed countries. Here in the UK, owning a nice house (not just a flat/apartment) in a decent suburb is

I wonder if the key issue here is lack of housing in developed countries. Here in the UK, owning a nice house (not just a flat/apartment) in a decent suburb is out of reach for most people who are at the traditional age to have children. That is a problem of lack of land rather than some inherent material cost. With such a vicious fight over the few properties that exist, almost all income is squeezed on that goal, with very little left for other costs of raising children. It also encourages everyone to have a worse work/life balance in a desperate attempt to get more income for housing (but of course it's a zero sum game because that just pushes the prices up for everyone).

cpursley 3y ago
> That is a problem of lack of land rather than some inherent material cost. No, this is a problem of poor planning and preventing building up (dense). Plenty of “developed” countries outside of the Anglo world have solved this issue.
- formerly_proven 3y ago
  I'm not sure about plenty. There's a common structural issue where properties and what you can do with them is controlled by local authorities elected by the locals while locals are also protected from the housing market using rent control. Since the locals already got theirs and experience a lot less of the market pressure non-locals experience, restrictive housing policy follows fairly naturally. This is true for both renting and renter locals.
  - HPsquared 3y ago
    Sounds like a case of "high and low against the middle".
  - cpursley 3y ago
    Restrictive housing is mostly a Western European and NA thing.
ghusto 3y ago
The Netherlands has the 17th highest population density in the world, and most of our land is still dotted with water here and there (all very cleverly, but it's still there). There are vast areas of nature reserves, with no building allowed. Most people can afford a house, even in the Randstad. So it's not a lack of land, and it's not development blocking. I'm not suggesting anything else, but though I'd take those two out behind the shed.

cpursley 3y ago

> That is a problem of lack of land rather than some inherent material cost. No, this is a problem of poor planning and preventing building up (dense). Plenty of “developed” countries outside of the Anglo world have solved this issue.

formerly_proven 3y ago
I'm not sure about plenty. There's a common structural issue where properties and what you can do with them is controlled by local authorities elected by the locals while locals are also protected from the housing market using rent control. Since the locals already got theirs and experience a lot less of the market pressure non-locals experience, restrictive housing policy follows fairly naturally. This is true for both renting and renter locals.
- HPsquared 3y ago
  Sounds like a case of "high and low against the middle".
- cpursley 3y ago
  Restrictive housing is mostly a Western European and NA thing.

ghusto 3y ago

The Netherlands has the 17th highest population density in the world, and most of our land is still dotted with water here and there (all very cleverly, but it's still there). There are vast areas of nature reserves, with no building allowed. Most people can afford a house, even in the Randstad. So it's not a lack of land, and it's not development blocking. I'm not suggesting anything else, but though I'd take those two out behind the shed.