The Political Economy of Housing in the UK
Renters would seem to be a natural constituency of the Labour Party in the UK. Why doesn’t Labour relax rules that limit construction, rules that primarily benefit owners? More or less, I conjecture the answer is that a huge share of rental housing is government-owned “social housing.” Despite substantial recent privatization of social housing, 18% percent of the UK population continues to live in these units, while only 12% of the population lives in private rental housing. I tend to support policies that promote universal access to affordable housing, but supporting growth of the private rental sector should be part of this strategy. Right now Labour captures renters’ votes by bolstering social housing instead.
