77002 wrote:
On Aug 23, 1:33 pm, "It's only me"
wrote:
Proper urban development will beget more business rates and council

tax, so there is local government interest here. As more homes are

built the market loosens and becomes more affordable.

If there is an oversupply of offices and shops, rents and therefore
rateable values will decrease. There is no sense in having empty
commercial properties unless rents are rising quickly. Remember
Centre Point?

Centre Point was a ploy to not pay any taxes to the council as the building
was not completed and waiting because the land prices were rocketing because
the boom in the economy meant community created economic growth soaked into
the land and crystallized as land values. That is where land values come
from - economic community activity not the landowner. In short the
landowner was freeloading.

Unless the UK indulges in another round of building "new towns", the
national housing shortage is actually only solvable at the local
level. In other words build homes where the people and jobs are, or
move the people and jobs.

I lot of sense in that. But the archaic Stalinist Town & Country Planning
act prevents building on green fields. Only 7.5% of the UKs land mass is
settled and that figure includes green spaces and gardens which brings
masonry on land to about 2.5%. Ignore right-wing propaganda that we are
concreting over the Countryside.

Stopping public money pouring into London would help in keeping people out
of the Capital. 50% of the transport budget is spent in and around London.
Moving the Capital out of London would greatly help - which is well overdue.

In the case of London there is ample opportunity for "Transit Oriented
Development". The principle behind ToD is that the area around
transit nodes is densified while the hinterland remains the domain of
single family homes and other lower density housing.

That is the case for many cities. The dumbos in Liverpool pretend they do
not have a large urban rail network - the largest outside London. New
developments do not crowd around Merseyrail stations, or new stations on the
lines. The disused underground Dingle station could have been reused and
been the centre of the road it is on. But Tesco built a new store way up
the road because no one seemed to realize there was a station ready to be
used to regenerate the district. The network has great potential to project
the city forwards but they just can't see it.

It needs directives from Whitehall to force cities into TOC where possible -
the environment gains are substantial. The infighting of councils can be
destructive. Modern eco flat developments need little heating. Also
apartments must be a minimum size, as most new apartments are poky holes
with little sound insulation. Also they should be forced to be Commonhold
not leasehold. Only England & Wales has leasehold which is rent and money
for nothing for freeloading landlords.

Introducing Land Valuation Taxation and relaxing planning laws will
eliminate the housing problem and no state intervention will be needed. The
private sector will take up the slack and ensure housing fulfils need and
stays at a high quality of build. Look at houses on the Continent and the
shabby rubbish dished out in the UK.

snip good stuff