Pricing or Prizing? The Valuation of Need in a Crisis of Housing Affordability

The concept of affordability in housing policy signalled a critical shift away from the priorities of housing need. This displacement of need by affordability can be understood as an act of economic valuation in which market price becomes the standard against which housing policies are measured. In this article I draw on John Dewey’s neglected theory of value to examine the relation between price and need. I apply this theory to an investigation of the assessments of housing need carried out by municipal authorities to establish quotas for the delivery of affordable housing in England. I argue that the shift from need to affordability has separated the concept of value from the process of valuation and resulted in a displacement of housing policy goals. I conclude that the systemic failure to address affordability problems in global housing markets should direct our attention to the failure of price to adequately value a prized goal of public policy.