The Economist:
London's property woes are getting worse
25 April 2016
Poor land-use regulation is the main reason for Londons crazy prices. Two problems stand out. ... There is enough green-belt land in Greater London to build 1.6m houses at average densities, says Paul Cheshire of the London School of Economics (LSE) - about 30 times the number of new houses London needs annually. ... A plethora of other regulations also block development. By one count there are ten protected views of St Paul's Cathedral, including one from a specific oak tree on Hampstead Heath. This imposes severe restrictions on building height across the city. Population density in central London is about half New York's. According to Mr [Paul] Cheshire and Christian Hilber, also of the LSE, restrictive planning policies inflate the price of office space in the West End by about 800%.
This article was published by The Economist on April 25, 2016
Link to article here
Related links
Paul Cheshire webpage
Christian Hilber webpage
Urban Programme webpage
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