Virtually every proposal to address the housing crisis starts with the same flawed premise, namely, the solution must come from government. The city of Boise illustrates this flawed premise.
The city is currently testing three different ideas to address the housing shortage: incentives and assistance for homeowners to build an accessory dwelling unit (ADU), allowing tiny homes on wheels (small mobile homes) in single-family neighborhoods, and a home-sharing platform similar to Airbnb. Each of these ideas would restore a little freedom to property owners. However, they also involve continued government intervention in the housing market.
For example, providing incentives and assistance for building an ADU means subsidizing such construction. Those subsidies will come from taxpayers. Further, government subsidies come with strings attached. Similarly, a city owned platform for home sharing will subsidize the service and subject home owners to whatever conditions the city chooses.
We don’t need government conducting experiments in small steps towards freedom. We need government to remove the regulations and controls that stifle the production of housing. We need government to fully restore freedom, rather than implement partial measures.
The city’s experiments are limited to what ideas government officials can conceive. Even if those officials look to other cities or solicit input from the public for additional ideas, implementation must still be approved by city officials. The number of experiments will necessarily be restricted.
However, if the city simply restored economic freedom to property owners, dozens or even hundreds of experiments could be conducted simultaneously. If owners were free to use their property as they choose, many will conceive ideas that have never occurred to government officials. With freedom, there is no limit to the ideas that can be tried. With freedom, we can solve the housing crisis.