Have UK politics put property investment at risk?

One attraction of UK housing is its inflation protection properties, but unachievable targets and bad political policies could place the sector at risk, according to David Gibbins, fund manager at Hearthstone Investments

In the run up to this year's historic election, one of the few clear areas of consensus among the parties was that more homes need to be built. The often quoted rate of 200,000 new homes a year looks completely unachievable if the policy emphasis remains based on private developers and consumers. One barrier is the land market, which is inefficient, opaque, and rewards stockpiling. Limited supply, concentrated ownership and a restrictive planning system mean the normal economics of supply and demand do not apply. The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) introduced a more ‘localised'...