Review by Cllr. Dr. Peter Hill – Director of Policy, Parliament Street
On 16th September, I appeared on the London Live Debate discussing the Bank of England Governor’s recent comments regarding the effect of Brexit on London house prices. On the Panel was myself, Andrew Boff (Member of the GLA and potential Conservative Mayor of London candidate) and Melanie Clear, a prominent architect.
In the debate I argued that Mark Carney’s statements regarding the effect of Brexit have been taken out of context. It is completely normal for the Bank of England to carry out stress tests for the economy under different circumstances. What the stress tests revealed is that under certain extreme circumstances, assuming the absolute worst, London house prices could decline by as much as 35%. However, possible is not the probable. I also argued that the UK needs to get the most out of Brexit and that the Chequers deal is a bad deal. Only by having a strong clean Brexit what do UK be able to take advantage of global free trade.
In the second half of the debate, we discussed a range of alternative policies which could be used to increase quantity of housing in London. I argued that it is important for local government to work closely with developers especially when trying to achieve goals for affordable housing. Andrew Boff outlined some very interesting and potentially effective policies surrounding self build on public land.
