WHITEHALL

Learning the lessons of history on housing

By imposing Right to Buy restrictions on local authority housing companies, John O'Brien argues the Government is in danger of choking off a sensible, entrepreneurial and innovative approach to housebuilding.

It appears we are back at Groundhog Day on housing policy – another white paper acknowledging we have a major housing crisis in the UK but with limited ideas about how we fix it.

What we have is comforting words. Government has ‘listened'. It wants to ‘help,' to ‘support'. But when we peel back the language, what lurks beneath? Very little we can rely on. While I appreciate running alongside the white paper is a series of consultations, it is a missed opportunity to put tangible solutions forward.

Paul O'Brien

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