3 ms·

> The reason renters can't buy is that they have bad credit and no down payment. At least over here, the reason is not bad credit nor need for down payment. Th

> The reason renters can't buy is that they have bad credit and no down payment. At least over here, the reason is not bad credit nor need for down payment. The reason is that they do not have enough regular, stable income. Their rents are subsidized, but the same subsidy is not available for buying property. Which does make some sense, of course. > Making housing affordable is easy: Subsidize the construction of high density housing No. Generally, in European countries and areas with high demand for housing, subsidizing construction is not necessary, and could be counter-productive. Making land available for construction is enough. In areas of high demand, housing is much more expensive than construction cost, and that is because there is more demand than there is supply. And in areas where there is shortage of housing, supply is limited not by inability to construct, but by unavailability of plots to build. Give me some land, and I can build a house myself.

AnthonyMouse 12y ago
> Their rents are subsidized, but the same subsidy is not available for buying property. That's just a whole different brand of stupidity. If you're going to subsidize people, just give them the money and let people decide whether it's more important that they pay rent or buy a house or live with parents and go to college etc. Central planning bureaucrats are going to get it wrong nine times out of ten. > Generally, in European countries and areas with high demand for housing, subsidizing construction is not necessary, and could be counter-productive. Making land available for construction is enough. What land? You can't make land. There is plenty of land in the middle of the desert or the tundra but nobody wants to live there. What you need is to find some old two story apartments in places where people actually want to live and put twelve story condos there instead. Or in bigger cities, replace the twelve story buildings with fifty story ones. You don't even need subsidies. That is what the market would do naturally when housing is expensive, the problem is local governments actively interfere with it. Existing residents don't want the homes they already own to go down in value when the housing supply increases, so they throw up a bunch of zoning regulations that de facto prohibit the construction of high density housing.
- ptaipale 12y ago
  > What land? You can't make land. In fact, often you can. Just a week ago in Hacker News: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8940235 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8940235 As to making bigger houses, you're quite right, but that's another aspect of "making land available". The land is there, zoning or lack of building permit does not allow developing it.

AnthonyMouse 12y ago

> Their rents are subsidized, but the same subsidy is not available for buying property. That's just a whole different brand of stupidity. If you're going to subsidize people, just give them the money and let people decide whether it's more important that they pay rent or buy a house or live with parents and go to college etc. Central planning bureaucrats are going to get it wrong nine times out of ten. > Generally, in European countries and areas with high demand for housing, subsidizing construction is not necessary, and could be counter-productive. Making land available for construction is enough. What land? You can't make land. There is plenty of land in the middle of the desert or the tundra but nobody wants to live there. What you need is to find some old two story apartments in places where people actually want to live and put twelve story condos there instead. Or in bigger cities, replace the twelve story buildings with fifty story ones. You don't even need subsidies. That is what the market would do naturally when housing is expensive, the problem is local governments actively interfere with it. Existing residents don't want the homes they already own to go down in value when the housing supply increases, so they throw up a bunch of zoning regulations that de facto prohibit the construction of high density housing.

ptaipale 12y ago
> What land? You can't make land. In fact, often you can. Just a week ago in Hacker News: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8940235 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8940235 As to making bigger houses, you're quite right, but that's another aspect of "making land available". The land is there, zoning or lack of building permit does not allow developing it.