"A more basic caveat about the building solution is that the very notion of a housing shortage can be questioned. Chris Watling of Longview Economics, an independent research consultancy, argues that the country has been building more homes across the UK than needed to cope with population growth substantially driven by immigration."...
..."Watling concludes that the lack of supply hypothesis is not supported by the evidence over the long term. The numbers suggest rather that the housing crisis is less about shortage than the unequal distribution of homes around the population."...
..."Watling, of Longview, argues that amending the Basel capital regime to tilt the balance from mortgages back towards business lending is a key to reinvigorating productivity growth and broad-based wealth creation. Such a move, which would be unlikely to please the powerful banking lobby, does not appear to be on the political agenda."
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