Housing

Housing or more generally living spaces, refers to buildings which shelter people. Ensuring that members of society have a home to live in is a social issue which is dependent on the levels of material abundance as well as the relations of production in a society.

Under highly developed capitalism, housing tends to be a finalized asset sold on markets for the purpose of generating profits from speculation.

To curb the excesses of speculators and to maintain social stability, some capitalist countries use market regulations such as rent control.

Under socialism, housing is generally guaranteed as a human right, and is thus decommodified and not distributed by markets. Communist-led China and Cuba both have higher homeownership rates than capitalist USA.

See also

• Cost of living
• Rent is too damn high