In this accessible and passionately argued book, Bob Colenutt goes to the roots of the long-term crisis in housing and planning in the UK.Providing a much needed, in depth critique of the nexus of power of landowners, house builders, financial backers and politicians that makes up the property lobby, this radical book reveals how this complex, self-serving and intimidating network perpetuates a cycle of low supply, high prices and poor building which has resulted in one of the biggest social and economic challenges of our time. With radical ideas for solutions, this is essential reading for anyone with an interest in housing, planning and social justice.
Bob Colenutt is an activist and commentator on housing and planning, and a part-time Lecturer at Oxford Brookes University.
The finance-housebuilding complexThe housing shortageThe housebuilding businessFinancing housing investmentThe property lobbyShaping national housing and planning policyThe 2008 financial crash continuesThe housebuilders and affordable housingHow the social and affordable housing sectors got swallowedLocal case studiesUnblocking the impasse
“The housing crisis stems from a new and unholy alliance of financial, developer and land-owning interests which this timely book uncovers and promises to fix as a central part of fixing the economy and society.” Michael Edwards, University College London