Yes, planning policy is the cause of the housing crisis

By D.K.

TODAY’S FT has an interesting letter from Shaun Spiers, the director of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), a pressure group which campaigns against development in England’s countryside. Missives from the CPRE are not normally worth paying any attention to, but this one is interesting because it explains one of the pervasive myths about the cause of Britain’s housing crisis. Planning is not the problem, says Mr Spiers—rather, it is the fault of the state for not building enough homes itself.