Few phrases resonate at Christmas as much as “no room at the inn”, recalling how Joseph and Mary, though her baby was due, could find no place to stay when they went to Bethlehem to register. It instantly relates the Christmas story to the plight of the many vulnerable people all over the world, who shelter wherever they can and sleep wherever they can – including giving birth wherever they can – because settled society has no room for them. There are many routes to homelessness, and dislocation from home territory is one. And in Britain in December 2018 homelessness is rising to record levels.

The official category of “homeless” is not limited to rough sleepers but includes many people placed in temporary accommodation in an emergency. Those sleeping in shop doorways or pedestrian underpasses are the visible sign of a much wider malaise in the provision of housing, public and private. While the availability of private housing depends largely on supply and demand, there is plenty of evidence that market forces here are failing to deliver. Market failure requires government intervention, and while all recent governments have talked a good talk about increasing the supply of housing for those able to afford it, none has been anything like bold enough.