“We need many more houses!”

“Why?”

“Don’t be silly: to house people, of course!”

“But they’re unaffordable.”

“Yes, but if we build more and more, they’ll become more affordable.”

“For whom; for landlords, or for young people looking for a home?”

“It doesn’t matter. They’ll be more affordable.”

“That’s an act of faith, isn’t it?”

“No, builders will drop their prices.”

“And make a loss?”

“No, you don’t understand ‘supply and demand’.”

“When it comes to houses, I do. Builders are unlikely to flood residential markets. They’ll drip-feed to cover their costs and profit, and with the average land compent of housing at more than 80%, developers aren’t stupid: they’ll at least want their costs back.”

“B-b- but ‘supply and demand’.”

Houses are not like an over-supply of ripe tomatoes whose price must be reduced to meet the market. We need a financial catastrophe before house prices drop to become afforadble.