‘Build on the green belt and cut tax to ease the building crisis,’ says Jacob Rees-Mogg MP in new report

A report published by the Institute of Economic Affairs on how to tackle the housing crisis has been previewed by the Sunday Telegraph. The report co-written by Conservative MP and arch Eurosceptic Jacob Rees-Mogg has called for sweeping changes to the way the UK plans for and builds homes.

The paper, ‘Raising the roof: how to tackle the UK’s housing crisis,’ presents a programme of radical free-market reforms which Rees-Mogg said would help tackle the UK’s housing crisis – or as the document labels it, ‘catastrophe’.

“Easy to say, harder to do,” says Zah Azeem, Partner at Scrivener Tibbatts. “Why doesn’t Mr Rees-Mogg come to Wimbledon and suggest The Common be declassified. He’d have more than a green belt to contend with!!”

The Conservative MP says ‘sclerotic planning laws’ should and can be reformed to free up land for development.

 “Large sections of the green belt would be declassified and VAT on property restorations slashed as part of a radical package of free-market reforms to urgently tackle the housing crisis.

“The North East Somerset MP, who has written a housing manifesto for the Institute of Economic Affairs think tank, warns that the green belt has ‘expanded much further’ than was originally intended and calls for Theresa May’s successor to lift restrictions on building on brownfield or derelict sites within the currently protected zones.”

Read the full article here.

If you would like to discuss this or something related to a valuation please contact zah@scrivenertibbatts.co.uk or call us on 020 8947 7040.