Housing Affordability: an analysis of the problem and proposed solutions

I. Opening Framing

Goal: Surface assumptions before people defend positions. When we say “housing affordability,” what problem are we actually naming? Is it high prices, insecurity, inequality, homelessness, one or more of these, or perhaps something else?

Is housing primarily:

• a market good,
• a social necessity,
• or a moral right?

What changes depending on which framing we adopt?
Can a society be considered just if a significant portion of its population cannot afford stable housing?
II. Should Housing Affordability Be a Government Priority?

Goal: Directly interrogate legitimacy and scope of state action.

Under what conditions, if any, is government intervention in housing morally justified?
Is housing different in kind from other goods like food, education, or healthcare—or only different in degree?
If housing affordability is not a government priority, who should bear responsibility instead (markets, families, charities, communities)?
Should governments be judged by housing outcomes, or only by whether they preserve fair rules and procedures?

III. How High a Priority Should It Be?

Goal: Force tradeoffs and ranking.

Where should housing affordability rank relative to other public priorities (healthcare, climate policy, public safety)?
Is it acceptable to deprioritize housing if intervention would reduce economic growth or property values?
Should governments aim to guarantee a minimum standard of housing, or to make housing broadly affordable for most people?

IV. Property Rights vs. the Common Good

Goal: Explore moral limits of ownership.

Are property rights absolute, or do they weaken when they contribute to systemic harm?
Is it morally permissible to restrict what someone can do with their property (e.g., zoning, rent caps) to improve affordability?
Does owning housing carry different moral obligations than owning other forms of wealth?
At what point does protecting property rights become protecting privilege?

V. Markets, Regulation, and Responsibility

Goal: Diagnose causes without slipping into slogans.

To what extent is the housing crisis the result of market failure versus policy failure?
When does regulation protect vulnerable people, and when does it entrench scarcity?
If well-intentioned policies worsen affordability, are they still morally defensible?

VI. NIMBYism, Democracy, and Justice

Goal: Interrogate legitimacy of local power.

Do local communities have a moral right to block new housing development?
When local democratic decisions harm outsiders (renters, future residents), should higher levels of government intervene?
Is NIMBYism best understood as self-interest, fear of change, or a defense of community values?

VII. Intergenerational & Social Consequences

Goal: Broaden the lens beyond prices.

Is the current housing system unjust to younger generations?
Do homeowners benefit from scarcity in ways that create moral obligations to reform?
How does housing insecurity affect political participation, family life, or social trust?

VIII. Closing Reflection

Goal: Synthesize without forcing consensus.

What is the strongest argument against making housing affordability a high government priority?
What is the strongest argument for it?
What tradeoff are you personally most uncomfortable accepting in housing policy—and why?

1. Framing the Core Question: Should Housing Be a Government Priority?

John Rawls – A Theory of Justice (selected excerpts)

Focus on: the “basic structure of society” and fair equality of opportunity

Why it works: Gives a strong philosophical case for why housing might matter indirectly—as a condition for justice rather than a right itself.

Milton Friedman – “The Role of Government in a Free Society” (essay)

Focus on: limits of state intervention and market efficiency

Why it works: A clean counterpoint that questions whether housing affordability is even the government’s job.

Discussion payoff: Is housing part of the “basic structure,” or just another consumer good?

2. Housing as a Right vs. a Commodity

UN Special Rapporteur on Housing – “The Right to Adequate Housing” (short overview)

Focus on: housing as a human right under international law

Why it works: Very readable, normative, and provocative—even for skeptics.

Friedrich Hayek – The Constitution of Liberty (chapter on social welfare, excerpt)

Focus on: dangers of expanding “rights” that require redistribution

Why it works: Sharp philosophical resistance to rights-based housing arguments.

Discussion payoff: What happens to political freedom when housing is framed as a right?

3. Property Rights, Zoning, and Moral Tradeoffs

Henry George – Progress and Poverty (land and rent chapters, excerpt)

Focus on: land value, unearned rents, and social obligation

Why it works: Surprisingly modern critique of housing inequality and speculation.
Alexander Tabarrok – “Zoning, Land Use, and the Housing Crisis” (short article/essay)

Focus on: how regulation constrains supply

Why it works: Clear, empirical, and challenges progressive instincts without culture-war baggage.

Discussion payoff: Are today’s housing shortages more a moral failure or a regulatory one?

4. NIMBYism, Democracy, and Justice

Michael Sandel – Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do? (communitarianism chapter, excerpt)

Focus on: community values vs. individual rights

Why it works: Helps frame NIMBYism as a moral—not just selfish—position.

Jerusalem Demsas – “America’s Housing Crisis Is a Moral Problem” (short essay/article)
Focus on: exclusion, inequality, and democratic hypocrisy

Why it works: Engaging and accessible; connects philosophy to lived outcomes.

Discussion payoff: When does local democracy become a vehicle for injustice?

5. Intergenerational Justice & Social Stability

Thomas Piketty – Capital and Ideology (housing/wealth inequality excerpt)

Focus on: housing as a driver of inherited inequality

Why it works: Shows how housing locks in class structure over time.

Hannah Arendt – The Human Condition (brief excerpt on “the private realm”)

Focus on: the importance of a stable private life for public participation

Why it works: A subtle philosophical argument for why housing stability matters for democracy itself.

Discussion payoff: Is housing affordability essential for a functioning democracy?