[UnderseaLcpl]

Interesting points, OLC, but I'm having trouble seeing things from your perspective.
The flaws you mention in the housing market (spiraling prices, polarization of ownership along class lines, unstable tenancy agreements for renters) are not things I have seen in the U.S. Perhaps it is so in the U.K., but the U.S. has actually experienced plummeting hosuing prices due to oversupply. I don't generally see evidence of a tendency towards a class split in free housing markets, either. We have a large middle class that generally has pretty decent housing. By contrast, the absolute worst housing we have exsists in places where the government regulates or provides housing. Public housing, rent-controls, housing initiatives, invariably all slums.

I'm not sure renting is the minefield you describe, either. I don't move anywhere on the whims of a landlord, she's bound by the same contract I am, and has to pay me a fee if she terminates it early, just like I do. I also want to own a house, but even that isn't much different from renting. I still have to pay rent to the government in the form of property tax. They actually can evict me pretty much whenever they want, and if I miss rent it is a felony.
Renting and not having a family lets me save money so I can afford a house and a family someday. I find that preferable to relying on taxpayers
to subsidize my ambitions, unlike some people in this country.

I just go on and on don't I? Last thing, I promise. I'm still not sure I understand your views correctly, so I will pose my last question again. What system would you prefer if not the free market? Even I am aware of the need for some regulation, perhaps you have some good ideas for appropriate regulation?