Would A Housing Industry Unchained Be An Emperor Unclothed?

a large mongrel dog stands in the foreground. Ronca tracks disappear off into the distance behind
Dog on the Tracks photo by Alan Levine is licensed under CC ZERO 1.0
The Housing Industry: hard-driving cost-busting steam engine of housing affordability . . . or, just looking for a quiet place for a profitable snooze.

The North American housing industry’s current battle cry? Unchain us from pesky regulations, and we’ll mass-build nations out of their affordable housing crises.

There would appear to be no brakes on this charging steam locomotive.1 But fellow travellers such as the real estate industry as well as activists such as the YIMBY movement might consider hopping off the super-charged anti-bylaw rhetoric for a bit of wait-and-see time.

Why? Well across the Atlantic, the United Kingdom, another charging locomotive has government support to drive full steam ahead on the same set of deregulated tracks. No need for fellow travellers elsewhere to risk an affordable housing experimental train wreck when another country is planning the same demonstration.

The prognosis for success? Doubtful, at least according to an analysis in The Guardian. For starters, the UK building industry supposedly shackled by regulation was granted 2.2 million approvals to build last year, but only took up only 1.5 million of them.

What gives here? Couldn’t be bothered to build? Eyes bigger than stomach? Whatever the answer, the image of a hard charging engine of affordable housing change suffers somewhat. What about a dog turning in circles before lying down for a nap?

Another depressing aspect of the UK government’s decision to let this dozy dog off the leash is the corresponding impact it will have on local council ability to tackle their own housing problems. Councils are becoming fed up with public private partnerships that fail to deliver housing in the quantity and price levels that are needed. Some councils have been looking to return to tried and true ways to measure affordable housing — social housing.

Alas, The UK government plans to rein in council authority in order to clear the tracks for the housing industry affordable chuffing and tooting and clattering now heard persistently in the far distance, where it quite possibly will remain.

Read more in The Guardian: Beautiful Homes On Sunlit Uplands? Not Once The Developers Are In Charge

Footnotes

  1. Or are there? Try: US Affordable Housing Supply — Sabotaged!

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