Time to build some homes for London’s future

A few years ago, a small group of Twitter warriors coalesced around a single campaign slogan – build some damn houses. As always with social media trends, the energy and enthusiasm are now behind, but the point is as relevant as ever.

Last year, the price of an average house rose by about the same rate as the average wage for a person in their mid-20s. That’s good news if you own a home; If you don’t, it’s more of a problem. Rising house prices aren’t a bad thing, but declining housing affordability is more of a concern; Those who can climb the ladder are likely to take out mortgages far in excess of best practice, and those who can’t are in a different kind of trouble.

There are myriad reasons for the rise in property prices, but in the UK it is in large part due to a shortage of housing in places where people want to live. So when demand is high, supply must increase. This would be the case in a well-functioning market. But UK housing is a jumble of private and public sector relationships laid down on Byzantine planning codes and labyrinthine permitting processes. It is of course also a political hot potato.

There were hopes for more dramatic reforms than we have seen. An 80-seat majority should have given the Tories room to overhaul the planning regime and stare down the not-in-my-backyard and the more militant build-absolutely-nothing-anywhere-nearby crowd. They have not. The Lib Dems’ surprise victory in Chesham and Amersham in a by-election last year signaled the death knell for that ambition.

Efforts must therefore be redoubled in London to make houses easier and cheaper to build for developers looking to capitalize on demand. And making capital more affordable for young talent has wider economic benefits too; Experience Berlin’s start-up scene, fueled in large part by cheap housing that appeals to free, mobile young talent. Time to build some damn houses.