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.[1][2]
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.[3] Communist-led China and Cuba both have higher homeownership rates than capitalist USA.[4]