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”

Hoover’s Peregrine asked me to write an essay with the title, ‘What is the optimal number of immigrants to the … Continue reading “The optimal number of immigrants”

Over the past week, the Labour Party has announced new policies on housing. Billed as attempts to help alleviate the … Continue reading “Why Labour’s rent and ‘ghost home’ proposals won’t make renting more affordable”

To deal with the problem of escalating rents, Ed Miliband plans to introduce what amounts to a variation of ‘second … Continue reading “Why Miliband’s rent control plan isn’t just some harmless gimmick”

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”

Have you ever come across a lipogram? A lipogram is a somewhat eccentric literary technique: the art of writing a … Continue reading “Forget it, Owen Jones: only free-market policies can solve the cost-of-living crisis (Part 2)”

First, the good news. Poverty has been on the decline for several years. Since 2007, the proportion of the British … Continue reading “To properly tackle poverty, we must look at the cost of living”

The government’s ‘Help to Buy’ scheme, soon to enter its second phase, is one of the most misguided and short … Continue reading “Help to Buy scheme is one of the most misguided initiatives ever”

The government’s deregulation programme doesn’t seem to be progressing very well. Indeed during the recent party conference season numerous additional … Continue reading “The best way to help tenants is to cut red tape for landlords”