> The good news is the problem in most cases is government zoning and permitting policies that drastically restrict supply and there are lots of logical argumen

> The good news is the problem in most cases is government zoning and permitting policies that drastically restrict supply and there are lots of logical arguments for requiring the government to gtfo of our way in this case being close to a human right Comparing between countries is useful. Indeed in most of the Anglosphere that seems to be the problem - an absurd focus on single family houses and decent amounts of NIMBYs. However I have two counterexamples showing it's not only a matter of zoning: First, France. There is no such ridiculous zoning policies, and in fact the state does a lot to encourage higher density and affordable developments. From having a law on the books that each relevant municipality must have a minimum % of affordable housing, often provided by them directly, to very favourable investment and tax regimes to invest in building new housing to rent at controlled prices (it one of the most popular investment vehicles in France). Paris also has sort of rent controls (you can't put out a place to rent if the rent is higher than a fixed % than the median per sq m in the same area). There are generous renters protections (your landlord can't increase your rent with more than a fixed index that tracks rent increases, and only once yearly; and they can't evict you for any reason). And there are strong regulations on what can be built in terms of quality (e.g. thermal and sound isolation are mandatory). There are many massive projects of urban redevelopment where derelict areas are redone entirely for mixed use with lots of nice housing. There is lots of investment in public transit too. And there is still an affordability/availability crisis in most of the big cities (even those without Paris' rent controls). Bulgaria, where the cities allow building of anything because it's "progress" and they get a kickback. Quality is very variable because builders don't care and inspectors look the other way with a bribe. There are literally appartement buildings with only a few metres distance. Decent density (5-10 stories usually), decent mixed use. Total lack of infrastructure investment though - little to no public transit, not enough parking/roads for the absurd "cars rule" policy adopted instead. Yet there is a housing availability and affordability crisis too. For the median worker it's unaffordable to buy, prices are more as in Western European big cities. IT workers and those in grey/black market sectors, as well as Russians parking money before the war, are fine though. So it's not as easy as zoning. It will definitely help a lot to drastically loosen it, but government getting away from it entirely won't work either and will be to the detriment of all too (cf. Bulgaria).