Tuesday, Aug 14, 2007
A house price nightmare
Guardian: A house price nightmare
The current mortgage crisis in the US was exacerbated - and at least partly caused - by restrictive town planning policies.
Posted by david20040_0 @ 11:26 PM (167 views) Add Comment
7 Comments
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1. enuii said...
Lets see, I live in a very nice area of LA and I have pots of dosh and 'friends' in local government. The last thing I want is the area going downmarket with blocks of apartments. So guess what, non are built. The article is ignoring human nature and is basically saying that the nice places to live are very expensive, more expensive than 'normal' working people in affluent areas can afford. Welcome to the world of the 'uber' rich, it's the same everywhere!
Anyway dave I thought you wanted to talk about the UK and not the US ;-)
2. paul said...
I don't see it. Seriously. The population has not increased sharply in the last five years - where is the extra net demand for housing? It doesn't exist.
3. Quiet Guy said...
I have no doubt that planning restrictions are part of the problem but I suggest that the main reason we are in this mess now is the growth of cheap credit that created an asset price bubble. In the UK, we tend to worry about immigranst and planning restrictions - the real problem is speculative borrowing.
4. Scunnered said...
Check out the article's author at http://www.policyexchange.org.uk/experts/expert-profile.aspx?id=43 : "He is the UK Representative for the German think tank the Institute for Free Enterprise. He is the co-author of Unaffordable Housing: Fables and Myths, Bigger Better Faster More, Better Homes, Greener Cities and The Best Laid Plans". The Institute for Free Enterprise? It's maybe not surprising that he's banging the drum for the "abolish the restrictive planning laws" cause.
5. cyril said...
The author of this piece of nonsense works for the 'independent' think tank the policy exchange which is chock full of Tory boys.
I see that none of the Guardian readers commented, which is unusual for them.
6. planning4acrash said...
The US has one of the most lax planning systems in the developed world! To claim that planning has caused sub-prime there is ludicrous!
7. dohousescrashinthewoods said...
It does sound about as credible as the "supply and demand" argument in the UK.
Quiet Guy has it spot on I reckon.