Getting rid of mortgages rather illustrates my point. You'd lower prices but also destroy people's ability to afford/buy... anything. Prices are a function of

Getting rid of mortgages rather illustrates my point. You'd lower prices but also destroy people's ability to afford/buy... anything. Prices are a function of people's ability to access money, not their direct income. And to your last point.. they need to build housing in places where there's the infrastructure to support it, or build the infrastructure. Building to suburban-like density in areas with a rural-like level of services (not just transport but shops, schools, leisure) is a recipe for misery. The big new housing developments they're putting in outside midsize town ring roads are a case in point. Too far to walk to the centre (and indirect routes, because of the ring road), but the centre itself doesn't have room for them to park cheaply. No bus so no independence for teens. Nothing at all to do on the development itself. And that's before we get to the quality and design of the actual builds. It's American style living done on the cheap. At least in the States they build large so there's room to do more at home, and the whole place is low density - their solution to the challenge of town centres is not to have town centres.