Policies to increase home ownership do not necessarily improve the supply or distribution of housing, as the UK experience demonstrates, and often works against it.
The mass movement of voters’ savings into an inherently risky asset also creates demands on policy makers to provide capital gains on housing that their constituents otherwise would not receive.
The promotion of such ownership is fundamentally regressive. It perpetuates inherited wealth and subsidies of middle-class children
rises in the home-ownership rate in a US state are a precursor to eventual greater rises in unemployment. Home ownership damages employment through three powerful channels:
- decreasing levels of labour mobility
- increasing commuting times
- diminishing creation of businesses.