We need to critically examine whether it’s appropriate to talk about rising house prices as if this is a good thing, when in reality, rising house prices can also play out as rising inequality, crime, mental illness and violence. Newspaper stories and headlines could be rewritten – just substitute any reference to "rising house prices" with "rising inequality" and you have a fuller picture of what is going on. Or we can design our housing system to ensure that everyone, no matter who they are, has access to quality affordable homes. We can make the price of property commensurate with the real value of property. Redesigning the housing system to be more fair and equitable means we are going to have to make some changes in our thoughts, attitudes, policies and practices.

Source: Stuff September 21, 2021 02:37 UTC