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Comment by citrin_ru | Hacker News Reader

> Outside urban areas, the vast majority of houses being built are four- to five-bedroom executive-style housing on greenfield sites: completely out of the reach of first-time buyers or those on council waiting lists.

1. Is it really the case? I don't expect developers to build something they cannot sell.

2. If someone buys such houses they are probably moving out from cheaper houses/flats which become available on market.

Unless houses stay empty (e. g. as an investment or a vacation house used for a fraction of a year) any new development should help to alleviate housing crisis.

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> 1. Is it really the case? I don't expect developers to build something they cannot sell

The main scenario I can imagine is if builders are operating psychotically, due to external incentives (corruption, poorly incentivized regulations, inability to build in more optimal locations/configurations)

Alternatively the price/cost ratio for luxury homes greatly exceeds lower-cost homes (and a single luxury unit probably takes longer to build than x low-cost homes, so it doesn’t free up as much supply as you might hope). But you’d also expect such a market gap to be immediately identified and exploited.

But yeah you’d normally expect construction to be self-correcting, because they want to get paid.

> The main scenario I can imagine is if builders are operating psychotically, due to external incentives (corruption, poorly incentivized regulations, inability to build in more optimal locations/configurations)

Yeah, I suspect regulations play a role. There seems to be a lot of weird (IMHO) regulations when building new homes in the US. Size of house/yard, number of parking lots, size of road, et.c. This probably removes the variability for the developers.

Note: I am not American nor a housing expert, so I might be talking out of my arse.

Most housing developments in the UK require a certain number of 'low income' housing. These are normally smaller houses which are either sold to low income people or the local government (who them rent them)

I'd love to see a better policy around making new housing developments require better public transport routes or space for shops/offices. The vast majority of the newer estates around me (North Scotland) require a car or a rather long walk just to get to a shop.

> Such houses, the wrong houses on the wrong sites, won’t bring prices down.

Yea i don't quite understand how that be.

Your comment seems reasonable to me but is down-voted here. So i guess we are missing something here.

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