[leppr]

Why would there not be a market for housing people with low wages? There are markets for cheap food, cheap clothes, cheap entertainment, ... Everything except lodging.

There's a hiccup somewhere in the "free market" of many countries that prevents it from providing cheap housing, even though there's clearly a huge business opportunity.

[mandmandam]

There are multiple hiccups, which don't seem quite independent of each other as they all make similar groups of people massive amounts of cash.

Some words that come to mind are "cartel", "regulatory capture", "lobbying", "government contracts", and "artifical scarcity".

[glassconclusion]

Maybe there is a bare minimum on comfort what people are willing to accept? I lived in Asia for a while. There were some many options. From a 3m2 room (if you wanted to sit, you had to open the door and sit on your bed) to a full mansion. I'm back in a major capital in Europe and there is pretty much nothing you can rent under 1000EUR (70-80% of minimum wage)

[leppr]

Yes, the problem with those bare minimums is that they're imposed from rich people (legislative class) onto poor people.

This results in a cut-off point, below which you lose the security of a stable, regulated, lodging situation, and are instead forced to operate outside the protection of the law, into a variety of more or less precarious situations.

Everyone has different priorities and aspirations. I personally would have preferred securing a stable space, even if it's closet-sized, than carrying my luggage between temporary accommodations or sharing my living space with strangers. Some people prefer the later options. There's no fundamental reason the basic freedom of having agency over your living accommodations should be denied to those below a certain level of wealth.