In this new video for ieaTV, IEA Director General Mark Littlewood explains how liberalising the UK’s suffocating planning laws would … Continue reading “Through the roof”

An unexpected increase in construction (from an extremely low base) has left building materials, especially bricks, in short supply, leading … Continue reading “Brick shortages come and go. Planning restrictions are the real obstacle to house building”

A lot of nonsense is being written about the UK’s housing crisis. But Danny Dorling’s book ‘All that is solid. … Continue reading “Danny Dorling’s ‘All that is solid’: The worst book on the housing crisis so far”

In today’s Mansion House speech, George Osborne is expected to outline new plans to encourage housing development on brownfield sites. … Continue reading “Don’t count on brownfield: it won’t solve the housing crisis alone”

Developer:   Hello, I would like to apply for planning permission for a residential development just out of town. Planner:   Forget … Continue reading “Why brownfield development is overrated”

The last blog piece on so-called ‘second generation rent controls’ (SGRCs) argued that while these controls would not necessarily cause … Continue reading “Why ‘second generation rent controls’ are not a solution to the affordability crisis (Part 2): beware false comparisons”