Pursuit of profit harming society

It says something about Britain in 2022, that a near doubling of land and house prices is a cause for celebration.

For those with assets (land, houses, etc), a doubling in their value is happiness, for those without, despair.

Some £9.2 trillion is locked up in Britain’s 11.2 m houses, yet it is some of the least efficient housing stock in Europe.

All this money does nothing for the economy, as it is not invested in new forms of production, or in socially useful outcomes for society. Instead we have empty second homes, underfunded adult social care and over powerful land development companies, who have little care for the communities they operate in. What is needed is a way of unlocking all that financial resource, for the benefit of the nation, instead of benefitting financiers and fraudsters (sometimes one of the same). There is almost total market failure, where more housing is approved, mostly on green field sites, yet housing deprivation increases, poor quality housing, that is drafty and inefficient remains the norm, and the infrastructure meant to connect this new housing is lacking.

The single minded pursuit of profit in housing, is damaging to the environment, harmful to the social good, and damages trust in the institutions of state, as development companies steam roller hapless planning authorities into accepting the unacceptable.

So, those of us who own housing or land, can feel a little bit richer, but we should think about those who do not own assets, and consider whether this can continue into the next decade. Richard Styles