Not enough affordable houses, not enough affordable rentals either, and it would seem that the answer is to build more houses.  That probably means limiting the ability of junior governments to obstruct their construction.  Only their planners seem to think that if 10,000 houses are needed demographically and 10,001 are built, the supply is adequate.  Try building 30,000 in that situation and see what prices do!  Speculators will bail when the situation changes, unless they buy into some sort of housing corollary to that peak oil theory of a decade ago ( where the oil price would just keep rising - new oil supply smashed that theory to pieces).