The first is why I believe we should build on some parts of the greenbelt. The housing market ultimately is like any other good or service, it is determined by market forces combined with government regulation. This brings us to several issues that exist within the market, which can be to some degree mitigated by building on the greenbelt.
The first is that demand for houses especially ones with gardens, not flats or studio apartments is extremely high in London as young families find themselves either cramped in 2 bed flats or forced to move out from zones 1 and 2. Building on the green build would help to mitigate some of these issues as there would be space to build such structures.
The second is to do with supply. We have a problem that our house suppliers are inefficient in the sense of the time it takes to build and the cost that is associated. This means that it is harder for new developers to make the first move and develop there first bit of land. The second is that because lack of supply pushes up prices, developers create land banks and eventually come around to developing these. This policy/regulation issue exacerbates the disequilibrium in the housing market. I feel that building on the greenbelt would go some way in dealing with this because, increasing the availability of greenfield sites would go some way to reducing the raw cost of land and attracting new developers. If this teams together with policy reforms that make it difficult for developers to create land banks or continue purchasing land without developing pre existing land would completely transform our housing market.
I know that I have simplified much of the issues discussed in today's debate and haven't talked about social costs, social justice or the many other points put forward. But just from an economical perspective I feel that building on even 3% (as that was the figure given by Alex Morton) of greenbelt would help to go some way in dealing with our housing crisis in which the most pressing issue is the lack of housing which is demanded (that means houses not flats).
I was not at all impressed with Tony Burton, to be perfectly honest I felt his argument was contradictory and illogical. He argued that we do have a land scarcity issue in london so building on the brownfield sites would be sufficient to cope with the demand in London yet then he argued we should build on some parts of the greenbelt - a truly confused person.
I found that Anne Power on several occasions, made her argument by comparing the situation in London to America, the Netherlands and other countries. This did not appeal to me or help to accept her argument. These countries have completely different situations not just in terms of supply and demand, but their culture. Germans for instance cannot understand or reconcile with the concept of borrowing money and paying back. Their lifestyle is built around living within their means. This translates into their housing market comprising of a low demand for property owning housing and high for rental.
It is time we had a planning regulation reformation and started building on the greenbelt.
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