We can fight for it all we want. And I agree it’s a good premise: more people being able to afford a decent/appropriate place to live is better. Slorch is also right: ain’t no guarantees and you aren’t owed anything - you want it, go earn it.
The problem is this: the only time a market-rate rental housing unit gets built in this country is when someone like me (a developer) and a capital partner (usually big institutional investor like a life co, PE group, REIT, Family office, etc) thinks they can make money at it. The idea that more units being delivered brings down rents is accurate but only to a point. Guess what deters investment in new units more than anything? Falling rents.
Same thing with for sale housing. Except it’s usually a public homebuilder building. They probably don’t have project specific financing but they do answer to Wall Street, who will put the kibash on bustling new units when prices are falling.
Oh, and guess what happens when house prices fall… they all fall. So we aren’t getting price relief without every US homeowner’s balance sheet taking the hit.
I’ve only seen two times in my life when prices fell - the S&L wipeout and the GFC. I don’t think anyone wants those again, though they would help housing prices and rent.