A public-sector building scheme is needed to tackle
private developers who “drip feed” new properties on the market and stoke
escalating house prices. Grossly inflated prices are a result of an
over-reliance on developers, think tank Civitas said, which argued that a
single cash boost of less than £20 billion would overcome lack of housing in
England. It called for a new requirement on local authorities to step in and
commission the building of homes that the private sector has failed to deliver
for decades, since council housebuilding went into “terminal decline” in the
1970s. The one-off investment could build 100,000 houses and flats, claims the
report. Proceeds from any sales could be reinvested in more homes, it added.
Landowners and developers have no incentive to build quickly because a sudden
increase in supply would drive down prices. Read more on the Morning Star
website.
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