Can you describe how housing regulation works in the UK? I hear phrases like "council housing" and I have no idea what that means. I'm very curious. To make it an honest trade, I'll describe how it works over on this side of the Atlantic:

Every state is divided into counties, and usually each county has a zoning authority, which determines what kinds of building are legal to put up in each district -- an area might be zoned for residential housing, or for commercial properties, or mixed-use and so on. The actual properties within an area can be bought and sold freely; zoning regulations just control what can be built on top of the property. Zoning regulations are not usually very onerous; the big exception is when you live in a major city. Then, the development of any property becomes a major political project. For example, in Boston, where I live, the median home price is ~$360,000, three times the national average. This is mostly because it's just not possible to get the legal approval to convert a house into an apartment building. Whenever someone tries, the neighbors complain: high-density residential block views and increase traffic, so people have a NIMBY attitude towards them. There are also environmental restrictions on building near coasts and wetlands, and this is usually handled at the state level.

When you want to buy a house, you go to a bank, and take out a loan on the property. Typically you put somewhere between 10-20% of the home price down, and borrow the balance. Mortgages last anywhere from 15 to 30 years, usually. Renting a house or apartment is also very common; anyone can do it, and a lot of individuals and corporations rent out property (the firms are called REITs, for Real Estate Investment Trust).

The state and federal governments only rarely directly run housing projects, and when they do they conditions are frequently quite terrible. Far more common (and effective) are subsidies to homebuyers (for instance, mortage interest is deducted from income taxes), and local authorities sometimes impose legal requirements on builders to make make a percentage of their construction low-income housing.

(Any Canadians, Dutchmen or others present? I'm curious about you, too.)