Pretty depressing reading.

[Edit] I had the archive link as a comment but this has gained enough traction that it’s not obvious. Here it is again so you don’t have to give FT any clicks https://archive.is/ypkln

  • mannycalavera@feddit.uk
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    6 months ago

    This is something I’d wish the next government would do. Seriously how hard is it to build? Bust through the bullshit planning restrictions and build houses that people want to live in.

    • Espiritdescali@futurology.today
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      6 months ago

      The house building companies already have vast amounts of land they own with planning permission in place. They restrict the amount of housing they build to artificially keep the prices high, if they build too many, the prices they could sell their houses for would drop, reducing profit. These are private companies and the government has little control over them. This is why every government for the last few generations has promised more houses and delivered nothing.

      • frazorth@feddit.ukOP
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        6 months ago

        It is unfortunate that the building companies make more money by not building, than by building.

        We need a progressive land/council tax. Hording land should cost you.

        My favourite suggestion should be that tax levels are based upon a heat map of urban density, but also linked to area owned. It was a suggestion that came out of the US because they have problems with land hording in urban areas, spaces that are just a car park to act as a holding for land.

        It would mean that ownership of inner city, undeveloped land and also owning large estates is penalised.

        • Espiritdescali@futurology.today
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          6 months ago

          I’m in favour of a Land Value Tax, this means hoarding land becomes expensive. It also means grouse moores and golf courses become expensive (good things in my mind)

      • huf [he/him]@hexbear.net
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        6 months ago

        These are private companies and the government has little control over them.

        lol, they have an army, just send it in and nationalize the shit out of them. the government has as much control as it wants to have.

    • sgtlion [any]@hexbear.net
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      6 months ago

      They simply don’t want to. Construction company owners are some of the richest and ones who do the most lobbying to MPs.

      • mannycalavera@feddit.uk
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        6 months ago

        The next government. They are incentives to help younger generations and renters as these make up a large majority of their voters that helped them into power.

        • Flyberius [comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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          6 months ago

          Yes, but they are all landlords, and ultimately they don’t give two shits about the voters who helped them into power. They are beholden to capital.

        • LainTrain@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          6 months ago

          They’re all landlords too lol. Even corbynite labour MPs were fucking landleeches. The UK has a very rigid class system between the Landlords and the non-landlords. The economy here is basically just housing because nothing else is worth investing into, and all other sectors, especially construction, industrial manufacturing and tech/R&D are dead.