Post Haste: Don't subsidise housing demand!

Britain has some of the world's least affordable housing simply because we build too few homes. Despite this obvious supply constraint, previous administrations decided to stimulate demand through schemes like Help to Buy. Over a decade, the scheme distributed roughly £29 billion, but its primary effect was to start a bidding war that pushed house prices even higher.

When you increase demand in a market where supply cannot respond quickly, the primary winners are the developers. Help to Buy functioned as a massive transfer mechanism, underwriting developer profit margins while locking buyers into inflated mortgages on new-build properties.

If the Government wants to get more people into homeownership, it must resist the urge to resurrect demand-side subsidies. True affordability will only come from fundamental planning reform and building the homes the country actually needs.