Why?

An odd insistence here:

England needs more houses, more social infrastructure and more genuinely affordable places to live – especially council housing.

We grasp the idea that England needs more houses. For it most certainly does and that’s what the recent reforms to planning permission are all about achieving. We agree that more affordable places to live would also be a good idea. Which building more houses achieves because if we increase the supply of something we decrease the market clearing price as everyone who has attended even the first lecture of that economics course understands.

So we rather go with the idea that the first thing, more houses, achieves the second, the more affordable bit.

It’s the next leap that makes us ask why? What do council houses have to do with this? Why is it that more 3 bed mansion flats to be occupied by the likes of Frank Dobson - who used to be the leader of the council that owned his flat - is a good idea? Why is it that councils, not social landlords, should run subsidised rental housing?

And, if all housing is to become more affordable due to the greater supply, does anyone think we need more subsidised housing anyway?