Except contrary to any other landlord, the government doesn't expect to earn money but to have a balanced budget. This is why medical expanses are much higher in the US than in any European country. This is why all basic necessities should be controlled by the government. Water, roads, internet, housing.

Not all governments are inefficient, and not all types of public housing are cheap. See Vienna. It can work.

Where I live (Montreal), a very common model is housing cooperatives. Funds help build or buy property, then gets converted to housing rental coop. It's not perfect since not everyone wants to manage a building, but it works fairly well overall.

I know some people living in apartments owned by the Berlin. Their experience with state-owned rental agencies is much better than most private landlords. FWIW.