I am rather confused about your statement. “Take the profit motive out”. Can you explain to me how the government can build cheap housing. Apart from making the homes smaller.
I know the government own a great deal of land, could they donate the land for free? Where are they supposed to get cheap tradesmen and materials? Most lower priced new homes nowadays are Gerry built rubbish anyway. Buying a home and land package atm, is far too risky, due to so many builders becoming insolvent.
The only quick solution is to cut immigration dead, yesterday. Supply some Greenfield sites and erect cheap transportable homes. These could be rented cheaply, but only to people in need. Then the tenants should be means tested and be forced to move on, once the household income increases above a certain level.
But I do not believe that the government wish to be involved in supplying homes. Hence the reason tax benefits are given to investors in the first place. Take those away and the supply of rentals will drop like a stone.
