The UK has long suffered from a chronic lack of housing. 2009 saw the lowest peacetime output of house building since 1924, and even before the financial crisis and subsequent recession house building was not keeping up with population growth.
With UK household numbers set to increase by over a quarter between 2008 and 2033, getting Britain building is a priority for the Government. But with rigid planning regulations, poor credit availability and an unhelpful tax regime constraining supply, questions remain over the likelihood of success for Government initiatives to resolve the problem.
What does population growth mean for the future of housing policy? Are the government’s planning reforms likely to have a significant effect on the supply problem? And can easing access to credit really help in the absence of radical planning reform?
Leading academic and member of the committee of the OBR Professor Steve Nickell will discuss his work on the UK housing market at our February Chalk + Talk event.
This event is kindly supported by the ESRC.
