The ongoing debate over whether the government is the only actor capable of solving the current shortage of housing sparks controversy. As the shortage of housing has been mainly driven by holiday rentals, many individuals believe that renting platforms should regulate their own services to solve such problem. However, some individuals defend that only the government can impose such measures. I agree with the latter point of view, as governments are the primary authors of legislation and public policy
On the one hand, some individuals believe that there are many actors, other than the government, are capable of changing the scenario of shortage of housing. Nowadays, this problem is heavily associated to the rise of short-term rentals. Rental platforms such as Airbnb reached a peak of popularity in recent years. As a result, as more landlords join these format of renting, there’s a small number of houses available in the regular renting market. Thus, people believe that those rental platforms should strict such movement, by limiting the number of properties that can be registered in certain strategic areas. Ultimately, this would minimize the pressure on the housing sector.
On the other hand, citizens argue that only the government would be able to solve such shortage, since stricters rules and public policies should be made. The payoff of limiting the number of properties is not financially beneficial benefic for the platforms, thus, they are less willing to properly act against the problem. As a consequence, the government, by using its power of enacting laws and coercion, is the only actor capable of figuring out such dilemma. Moreover, the government can also create programmes related to building more residential areas as a way to help people get access to housing.
In summary, although some people might claim the existence of other actors to act upon the shortage of housing, the government is the only actor capable of fighting such problem effectively. Not only it is capable to create and reinforce laws, but it can also foster welfare programmes linked to housing accessibility.