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IEA: UK housing market needs “less red tape, not more”

Dr Kristian Niemietz responds to Labour's zero carbon housing proposal

Responding to the Labour Party’s pledge to make all new homes zero carbon within three years, Head of Political Economy at the Institute of Economic Affairs Dr Kristian Niemietz said:

“What the UK housing market needs right now is less red tape, not more.

“The UK already has some of the highest housing costs in the developed world. Creating new rules that would push up the price of homes, without doing anything simultaneously to tackle sky-high house prices, will result in making it even harder for people to get onto the housing ladder.

“Rather than propping up our bureaucratic, centralised approach to housebuilding, we should focus on energy-efficient measures that are already being delivered through the market, which double up as cost-efficient for consumers as well.

“If Labour, or any party for that matter, wants to address housing, they need to reform the flaws in our planning system, release more greenbelt land and reduce tax distortions such as Stamp Duty.”

Notes to Editors

For media enquiries please contact Emily Carver, Media Manager: 07715 942 731

For the IEA’s most recent research on housing, click here.

For more from Dr Kristian Niemietz on housing, click here.

The mission of the Institute of Economic Affairs is to improve understanding of the fundamental institutions of a free society by analysing and expounding the role of markets in solving economic and social problems.

The IEA is a registered educational charity and independent of all political parties.

Original article link: https://iea.org.uk/media/iea-uk-housing-market-needs-less-red-tape-not-more/

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