Here's some first hand examples from more recently than 100+ years ago about how regulation unnecessarily drives up the cost of housing to the point where there is a vast shortage of housing for the lower socioeconomic class.
When I worked for a national homebuilder we built the whole range of houses, from mansions to starter homes. The greatest difficulty was building low cost, basic homes due to government regulations. We had to deal with density restrictions, which raised the cost of each individual unit. We had to deal with a variety of per unit fees, which raised the cost of each individual unit, We were mandated to have a wide range of amenities (e.g. pools, clubhouses, etc.), which raised the cost of each individual unit. We were mandated to have upscale appliances, which raised the cost of each individual unit. We had to install upgraded trim work, which raised the cost of each individual unit. And then because the cost of low end housing became so expensive as to be out of reach of the target market, the local government required 30-50% of the units to be sold at cost. To make the deal work, the cost of the "market rate" homes had to shoulder all that burden and were now well over $100k more expensive than they should have been. The numbers didn't work by a long shot, so nothing was built. Total waste of time.
So, that's when the government steps in a foots the bill. That's how you force the taxpayers to spend more than $800k on a housing unit for the homeless.
