Government policy as a source of homelessness

From New Zealand fact of the day by Tyler Cowen.

…a recent report by Yale University concluded the country is suffering the highest rate of homelessness in the developed world with 40,000 people, nearly 1 per cent of the population, living on the streets or in emergency housing or substandard shelters.

…“The big change in homelessness is the number of working families struggling to find homes and pay rent,” says Ms Rutledge, who adds the situation is the worst she has seen in her 13 years working in homeless services in Auckland. Nationwide, some 5,844 people were on the social housing waiting list in September, a 42 per cent increase on the same month two years ago.

This FT article indicates the country will respond by banning foreign purchases of Kiwi homes — I guess the country is too crowded to allow for an elastic supply response.

I know Cowen is being facetious but here is a graphic representation of just how not-crowded New Zealand is.

Parts of #NewZealand with no people living within 1 square kilometer. #datavizhttps://t.co/IgVwuh0Yyh pic.twitter.com/zNnKJWIA8A

— Randy Olson (@randal_olson) December 10, 2017