Yes: When housing prices rise, we all pay the price, but one group – owners of developable land and developers of real estate – receive the profit. Inclusionary housing programs recapture some share of the increase in land values to help the people who are most negatively impacted.  Developers and property owners should certainly not be alone in addressing the need, but it is sometimes fair to expect them to bear some of the burden since they often receive financial benefits from rising housing costs. Inclusionary housing only ever provides a small share any community’s affordable housing opportunities.  The vast majority of affordable housing is directly subsidized by taxpayers through federal, state and local government programs.

Is there a single “best” model for designing an inclusionary housing policy?
If the problem is that we aren’t building enough housing, shouldn’t we just build more?