High housing costs are a disaster for living standards, costing private renters more than 30% of their income and giving London the highest poverty rate in the UK.

The economists’ answer is to build more homes in high-cost areas, but that’s easier said than done. Developments are often opposed from the right, for reducing local house prices, and the left, as gentrification.

Opponents accurately say city-centre developers build for richer customers.

+INFO: The Guardian

\IMAGE: The Guardian