Editorial: Northern Ireland should watch the political debate over housing that is happening in England

​​A very serious political problem has been burning away in England with regard to housing. England is by far the most densely populated part of these islands, with many more people per square mile than Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wale or the Republic of Ireland. It is far more densely populated than any state in the US. And it is more cramped than any other major country on Earth, with the exceptions of Belgium and the Netherlands.

This helps explain why housing is so expensive, particularly in the crowded south east. The situation has been made much worse by massive immigration, which have increased the population of the UK by millions of people in a mere 20 years, most of them in England. The Labour Party is saying it will overhaul how land is valued under compulsory purchase order process as part of efforts to encourage more house building. Under such orders, local authorities can effectively force property owners to sell to make way for major property developments.

It is reported that Labour, which is likely to take power next year, will bring forward legislation to allow councils to purchase land at a price that does not reflect the 'hope value' (ie a massively increased value if planning permission is granted). Basically not enough housing is being approved for the population, creating a housing crisis and both Tories and Labour are trying to figure out how to deal with the matter.

Northern Ireland has nowhere near the same pressures. But we do have an unhealthy sense that high house prices are a good thing. They aren’t. They shut young people out of home ownership and create generations of resentment and make more likely radical solutions that curtail the free market such as this bid to make it easier to vest land in a way that landowners make no profit.