Michael Gove’s speech on 19 December 2023 is laced with good intent. But fails two life or death tests: They are the delivery test and the politics test. Delivery polices built on sand, lacking foundations, ignoring market custom and powerful vested interests, or the indispensable role of time in creating premium values will result in … Continue reading Can Gove deliver new homes?

The Times did not publish a letter I sent them following Michael Gove’s speech. It is below. But the paper kindly did publish an earlier one on 15 December 2023 (page 26), issued before he spoke. Here it is “Sir. Something seems wrong here.. Michael Gove intends to say that councils will no longer be … Continue reading Responding to Gove’s speech

By next weekend Michael Gove, Housing Minister is due to publish his solution to 13 years of housing policy failure. White papers, green papers and over-subscribed consultations have spelt out the spatial, territorial, tenurial, generational, unaffordable, fluid time frames and Machiavellian facts of life that direct the housing market. . So at last we ought … Continue reading Government policy confusion

Policy Exchange has produced a heartening new report (The Property Owning Democracy,; James Vitali) which seeks to understand and then explain current housing policy failure. It is endorsed by several Conservative MP’s, including Ministers, which matters. . As as step towards educating open market , dyed-in-wool ideological MP’s who still cannot understand why four decades … Continue reading Good try; muddled understanding