Self-defeating eco-towns
Peter Hoskin 4:04pm
The Government's released its short-list for 'eco-town' sites. Reading through it, the first thing that struck me was that they're almost all in the middle of nowhere.
Of course, that's half the point. New towns have to be built on unspoilt land, so to speak. But the problem is that the Government's also promoting these new towns as a solution to the affordable housing dilemma. They're meant to help young, first-time buyers get on the housing ladder. Yet - without any disrespect intended to to Coltishall, Imerys et al. - young people want to be where the jobs are. That's why there's so much internal migration to hubs such as London, Birmingham and Manchester.
So, either the Government expects these first-time buyers to all work in Cornwall, or they expect them to commute. If it's the latter, then the Government had better start thinking about improving road and rail links - not something they've excelled at in the past. Besides, just imagine the carbon footprint of creating new infrastructure, and of the cars that will travel to-and-from these Huxleyan eco-towns every day.
It's another case of the Government tickering with the supply-side of things, when some demand-side reforms would have achieved better results. If you want to help young people, then a good start would be to get rid of the prohibitive stamp-duty charges that first-time buyers face. Then they might be able to afford housing in areas where they want to work.
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kieran Foster
April 3rd, 2008 5:58pm Report this commentBut surely its a self defeating circle - the problem of affordable homes is far higher in the countryside, and yes, there are jobs there - the farming and cottage industries are crying out for staff, but having to employ poles and romanians living in squat conditions fifteen to a house to fill those jobs, because the local kids have all had to go and live in the town. get the houses back, and the communities come back, kids in the local schools, local shops, village garages - the jobs are there to service the community, but when a whole village is made up of retired couples whose kids have flown the nest, the community dies.
Max Kaye
April 3rd, 2008 8:40pm Report this commentThis is the housing equivalent of wind farms: expensive and useless. They'll just screw up unspoiled areas.
Amazing, put 'eco' in front of any stupid idea and it becomes 'worthy'.
Trumpeter Lanfried
April 3rd, 2008 10:07pm Report this commentThese eco-towns, if they ever get built, will be the slums of the future; a cross between pre-fabs and refugee camps.
Nick Kaplan
April 3rd, 2008 10:31pm Report this commentThe problem of the lack of affordable housing, like most economic problems, is one that has been almost entirely created by government policy. Strict preservation policies that set aside vast areas of green-belt, in a country most of which is already covered in fields, has meant housing supply is entirely incapable of keeping up with housing demand (Thomas Sowell is very good on this issue). What’s more, rapid immigration due to this government’s open door policy, combined with Brown’s destruction of the pension system which has meant the only way to create a sustainable future income is to invest in property, has led to a significant increase in demand. In addition, as the problem emerged the government attempted a solution, which was to virtually blackmail developers into building a certain percentage of affordable housing before granting planning permission. This meant development became less profitable, which again meant significantly less supply and higher prices, this is why all those London boroughs with targets for affordable housing have far fewer houses built than those which don’t. It is an obvious economic fact that when demand is significantly higher than supply (a problem that would not occur if there were fewer restrictions on development) prices will rise to equilibrate. Thus the problem is entirely artificial and now the government is going to waste more money intervening to solve a problem it has caused.
Fergus Pickering
April 4th, 2008 6:01am Report this commentWho thinks these towns will get built? Hands up.
Max Kaye
April 4th, 2008 3:49pm Report this commentFergus Pickering - I wish this were so. Alas, near where I live in the West Midlands, developers are in cahoots with the local authorities and 'development' agencies who hope (allegedly) to receive back with one hand the public funds that they are giving with the other. Some would call this corruption. I couldn't possibly comment.
If these 'eco-towns' were to be funded solely with private funds then this fashionable stupidity wouldn't leave the drawing board.
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