Economist editorial on the out of control UK housing market suggests that there is insufficient land being offered to developers.
I was taken by the LRB argument that in fact land with planning permission is not the issue but the fact that private land developers have no interest in completely satisfying demand for housing since it reduces their margin.
In fact building any housing is much more risky than speculating on the value of the planning permission on the land they already hold.
Allowing municipal bodies to participate in housing construction and provision seems essential to provide a spur to the private sector to actually develop rather than speculate.