It is 40 years since Paul Cheshire began to investigate the economic effects of our land use planning system and 20 years since Kate Barker published her first review of the impact of planning on housing supply. Their insights have helped us understand what can be done to ensure decent housing for all and boost productivity - but, after three failed attempts at significant planning reform - we are now in a time of economic stagnation and facing a housing affordability crisis that is only becoming more desperate as interest rates rise.

This event will bring together some of the key contributors to this long-running debate and underline LSE's commitment to engage in this important public policy issue.

For more information, visit lse.ac.uk/events.

Speakers

Stephen Aldridge is Chief Economist and Director of the Analysis and Data Division at the Department for Levelling Up Housing & Communities. He was previously Chief Economist and then Director of the Strategy Unit in the Cabinet Office. He is a Continuing Policy Fellow at the Centre for Science and Policy at Cambridge, a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and a member of the What Works National Advisory Council.

Kate Barker is Chairman of Trustees for the British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme, and Chair of the Universities Superannuation Scheme. She is an NED at Man Group plc, and (until July 2020) at Taylor Wimpey plc. she also chairs the Jersey Fiscal Policy Panel. Kate was an external member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee for three terms between 2001-2010.

Paul Cheshire is Professor Emeritus of Economic Geography at LSE. He was a member of the Board of the National Housing & Planning Advice Unit and of two of the DCLG former Expert Panels and continues to act regularly as a consultant to the MHCLG. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and of the Weimer School of Advanced Studies in Real Estate and Land Economics and won the Royal Economic Society's Best Paper prize in 2005 and the EIB-ERSA Prize in 2009.

Simon Wolfson is Chief Executive of the clothing retailer Next plc, as well as a Conservative life peer.

Richard Layard is Emeritus Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and currently heads the CEP's Wellbeing research programme.

For any queries email events@lse.ac.uk.