Housing catastrophe? Beware the government with a vision for the people

Does Gen Z have all the answers to our housing problem?

A recent newspaper article asked university students how they would solve the current housing crisis. The article suggested that we were heading towards a housing ‘catastrophe’, but Gen Z had the answer. However, an economist mate of mine pointed to the HILDA data and suggested people found it harder to pay their rent or their mortgage in the early 2000s than today. Never let a good political ‘narrative’ get in the way of social engineering. It’s hard, but hardly a catastrophe.

Writing in the Unfiltered newsletter, Alexandra Marshall had this to say:

We hear a lot about the housing crisis from the nation’s young people, but, as Michael de Percy writes today, it has always taken a lot of work and sacrifice to acquire property. ‘I have had two mortgaged houses, and home ownership is something I prioritise over almost everything else.’ Wanting the government to provide housing is a pattern of thought we need to be very careful of because we all know what happens when private property rights are devalued.

My latest in The Spectator AustraliaHousing catastrophe? Beware the government with a vision for the people.