Can the housing crisis be explained in one slide?

[AlphaApple]

This came up in my LinkedIn feed. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/tim-williams-a6220253_banking-financialisation-housing-share-7461242601468243968-XrSw?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAAI3FEIBX7LhnTaGzfQUuJestC0JyaNbgTw

The housing crisis explained in one slide?

1. This ignores the role of demand entirely. No mention of increased housing demand due to longer life expectancy, immigration, and reduction in average household size.
2. Ignores the role of the planning system. A looser planning system would have allowed millions more unsubsidised houses to be built. It’s perfectly possible to build houses without government subsidy if you don’t forbid it.
3. Building new houses, even social rented ones, has a smaller effect on the housing benefit bill than you might think. Most social tenants receive housing benefits.

So no. The slide is thought provoking but is essentially a left wing analysis which assumes houses have to be provided by government and entirely ignores demand side factors.

It also ignores the right to buy in the 1980s onwards, which depleted the stock of council housing and the passing of resonsibility to build social housing to housing associations.

It explains explicitly the disastrous effect that Thatcher's right to buy policy had upon the tax payer. It's excellent to see that more housing is being built. However it'll be a slow ascent.