Subsidized housing in Emsdetten

Emsdetten is a town in the district of Steinfurt, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It has about 36.000 inhabitants. Even though the town has many companies that provide work places, 3.7 percent – which are 1.332 people – of the population are unemployed, and the number has increased since September 2019. Furthermore, many people work in jobs where their income is not enough to pay for their rent and to care for themselves. Regarding to that, there are people that need to apply for subsidized housing. As the city hall of Emsdetten says, more than half of the inhabitants have applied for subsidized housing and do need it. Why do people apply for subsidized housing? When people are not able to take care of themselves – maybe their children as well – and to pay for their rent due to their low income, they need help from the government so that they have the ability to care for them and their families. Therefore towns provide social housings that are either built for low-income people or that have a low rent so people …

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A response to: Housing for homes – a classic case of market failure

A recent blog post published by Tom Healy, director of the Nevin Economic Research Institute, suggested that the current housing market in Ireland is an example of a failed market. Healy believes that the issue of under supply of housing can only be solved if the government expands provisions of social housing and extends its jurisdictions over prices and supply in the housing market.

Healy based his argument upon the assumption that the current housing market has failed and is unable to recover without intervention. He cites a chronic under supply of housing and the inability of government programs to sufficiently meet demand. While there is indeed a under supply of housing and rising prices due to pent up demand, a series of government construction plans such as the 2013 Forfas Strategy, Capital Investment Plan, and Action Plan for Housing and the Homeless, in addition to private investments are expected to dramatically increase housing supply within the next few years. These projects directly address the supply issue by promising 47,000 additional units of social housing before 2021.

The blog post …

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