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Why building more won’t make houses affordable

Governments around the world are searching for ways to fix housing affordability, but the solutions will have to be local and community-based

    • The solutions to housing affordability problems are multipronged, and should be tailored to local conditions.
    • The solutions to housing affordability problems are multipronged, and should be tailored to local conditions. PHOTO: BT FILE
    Published Tue, May 30, 2023 · 05:50 AM

    FROM Sydney to San Francisco, the housing affordability crisis is affecting communities across the world.

    Younger generations priced out of homeownership are locked in a precarious private rental market, while declining government support for social housing and income support has pushed lower-income renters to the brink of homelessness.

    A growing chorus claims these problems could be fixed by simply building new homes. According to this view, housing is more expensive because there is not enough new supply. They argue that land use regulation and planning processes restrict new construction, adding costly delays and uncertainty to the development process.

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