Date published: 2006/03/26
The BBC says:
Conservative leader David Cameron has demanded urgent action to tackle what he calls the growing gap between rich and poor due to high property prices.
He warned of "a growing inequality at the heart of British life" because the property ladder was beyond young people from less well-off families.
He called for more housebuilding to provide an adequate provision.
...
He said millions of new houses would be needed over the coming decades because a shortage of new homes had contributed to an "affordability problem" for first-time buyers.But the ones from wealthy families could rely on loans or gifts from their parents, a state of affairs which "only entrenches unfairness".
Mr Cameron mocked opponents of new developments as people who want to Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anyone or "Bananas".
Housing minister Yvette Cooper said his claims had no credibility because his party had opposed the government's plans for more house-building nationally.
"His party remains committed to cuts in the housing budget and his frontbench spokesmen are continuing to oppose new homes in their own constituencies," she said.
Yes, Cameron has a credibility problem on this front. Certainly Tory MPs near Cambridge seem to be classic NIMBYs and against most house building anywhere near their constituencies. Unfortunately in the UK, house building is dominated by large developers, and these people are not happy with putting the odd house here and there, instead they dump hundreds or thousands smack in the middle of an empty field and expect the locals to just put up with it. Even the small developers are not great. In Cambridge, Meadowcroft Hotel on Trumpington Road is due for demolition (real soon now) to be replaced with 19 (!) houses. (Why 19? Because if you hit 20 you suddenly have a whole different set of rules, including having to include some so-called affordable housing in your development.) So you can see why the neighbours might be upset and why people become NIMBYs. Growth should be organic, but the Green Belt restrictions mean that it never is. Land on one side of the magic boundary is worth over a million pounds an acre, and land on the other side is worth a few thousand pounds an acre. The only people ever allowed to build in the Green Belt are millionaires and big developers. It's akin to winning the lottery. Until Middle England faces up to the Green Belt issue, demand will continue to trump supply in the housing market.
(And it is not just first-time buyers who suffer. Everyone does, except for the few people at the top. Most people are stuck in sub-standard housing unable to afford to move to a better house. The first political party that recognises this gets a gold medal.)
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