Planning delays and bureaucracy are at the root of the housing crisis

摘要

Suddenly the housing portfolio - formerly the quiet backwater of political oblivion - has sprung into the headlines. As a result, housing and planning minister Brandon Lewis finds himself in a maelstrom of pre-election controversy as all the parties play property Top Trumps in a vapid effort to outbid each other in guessing the required number of new homes needed to solve the UK housing crisis. According to Lewis, the 300,000-home shortfall is in part the fault of housebuilders for not adopting new technology at the rate demanded by the crisis over which he presides. It is true that with only 141,000 new homes built last year, perhaps one ought to improve construction methodology, but I would have thought a far bigger inhibitor to housebuilding is planning, local authority vacillation and funding. All of which fall underthe politician's purview.