Our ancestors knew how to build social housing so well that it is still in use today. Here is the 1752 Hopton's Almshouses in London, sandwiched between modern monstrosities they preserve the charity of Charles Hopton (1654-1731): still housing the poor elderly and their gardens. 
Hopton was a guildsman who died childless and unmarried. He donated funds and land for the construction of the almshouses, to be administered by the local parish. 26 poor elderly men would receive "not less than £6 a year" and coal. Here are the almshouses in 1830.
Three rows of brick buildings with structural details in stone, with a ground floor sitting room and an upper floor bedroom. A handful were damaged or destroyed in 1940 but rebuilt exactly like the originals.
Here in 1957. There is no fiscal or physical reason why we can not build something like this today. Instead, we build social housing that is unsustainable, unlovable and un-ecological, almost like were punishing people.
