On the Economics of the Barker Review of Housing Supply

Datos Bibliográficos

ID11655114
AutoresGeoffrey Meen (0000-0001-8502-9694, University of Reading, autor de correspondencia)
Año2005
Volumen20
Número6
Páginas949-971
Fecha de publicación2005-11-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaHousing Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0267-3037 • E-ISSN: 1466-1810
EditorialTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/02673030500291082
OpenAlexW1972681943
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas12
Referencias citadas18

The Barker Review of Housing Supply was set up in order to address some of the weaknesses that might arise if the UK were to join EMU. The Final Report has quickly become one of the most important documents in housing policy for many years. Broadly, the Review examined the reasons for the weakness of English housing supply. For example, during the 1990s, despite the boom in house prices, private housing construction hardly grew at all. The weakness of supply is one reason why house prices in the UK have risen much faster than the European average. In response to the Review's conclusion that the land-use planning system is the main cause of supply shortages, England will be introducing affordability targets. Regional planning authorities will be required to release more land if they expect targets not to be met. Economic analysis and models will become central to the assessment. The Barker Review provides a good example of how economic analysis can be used to inform the policy debate. This paper looks at the economics underlying the Barker Review, concentrating on an analysis of supply elasticities and the required increases in construction to meet price targets. The latter has been particularly controversial since, under some assumptions, the analysis implies that housing construction in England needs to be approximately doubled in order to bring house price inflation down to European levels

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