IEA: UK housing market needs “less red tape, not more”
By Dr. Kristian Niemietz, courtesy of IEA
Responding to the Labour Party’s pledge to make all new homes zero carbon within three years, Head of Political Economy at the Institute of Economic Affairs Dr Kristian Niemietz stated:
What the UK housing market needs right now is less red tape, not more.
The UK already has some of the highest housing costs in the developed world. Creating new rules that would push up the price of homes, without doing anything simultaneously to tackle sky-high house prices, will result in making it even harder for people to get onto the housing ladder.
Rather than propping up our bureaucratic, centralised approach to housebuilding, we should focus on energy-efficient measures that are already being delivered through the market, which double up as cost-efficient for consumers as well.
If Labour, or any party for that matter, wants to address housing, they need to reform the flaws in our planning system, release more greenbelt land and reduce tax distortions such as Stamp Duty.
Dr Kristian Niemietz is Head of Political Economy at the Institute of Economic Affairs.
