There are fewer vacant houses in England than in nearly any other country, Professor Stephen Nickell of Nuffield College, Oxford told a Chalk and Talk debate hosted by the Social Market Foundation.
Industry experts gathered at a Westminster location last week to discuss the chronic lack of housing facing this generation and what could be done to address this.
“People can’t get on the ladder these days when the houses aren’t there and prices are high because of a lack of competition”, said Nickell.
“Even in the boom times of 2006 not enough houses were being built in where people wanted to live and there was no incentive to allow development.
“ Then Labour constructed a control system for house building targets related to population growth and new building in England was up 170,000 in 2008; then the crunch came.”
Nickell pointed out that there are acres of space in places such as Oxford where houses could be built but they are on a green belt, planning permission is restricted or locals object.
“We know everyone would be opposed to developments in places where land is available, like Tumbridge Wells. You would need money to bribe people to agree to it. You would need to give them details of facilities that would be provided if they agreed to it.”
However, he also argued that no amount of money would lead residents to want more housing in their area.
“Some people don’t see the housing stock problem as they believe there are a lot of empty houses in Britain, left by the deceased or second homes, but there are actually fewer vacant houses than nearly any other country, so it’s a red herring.”
He suggested that a proposal to increase social housing was “pie in the sky, as there’s no money there.”
Loading ...