Markets have failed on housing

Abstract

As someone who has long advocated for relying on market forces whenever possible, it pains me to recognise that market failure has been a major feature of the emerging housing crisis.

The failure is apparent in the context of a long-term shift by both state and federal governments away from social housing. The share of public housing in new builds has collapsed – from roughly 10 per cent in the 1970s and ’80s to barely 3 per cent over the past decade. It is now imperative governments re-embrace social housing strategies as probably the most effective way of beginning to make homes more affordable and prevent more people falling into homelessness.

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