Market value?

'Expansion will be driven by the private sector and if there is no business case it simply will not happen. The market will see to that. (Inverness Courier Leader click here)'

But homes and facilities need to be provided for those that have been priced out of the market; strong, sensible, thoroughly tested policy should deliver for those in need before it is too late for many. Isn't that why THC is required to produce a 'Housing Need and Demand Assessment'?

So, does the 'market' provide us with the solutions to the problem of increasingly unsatisfied housing need?

Ken Loach said of the book, "Where the other half lives: lower-income housing in a neoliberal world (2009)*"

"To feel secure people, particularly families, need good well-maintained housing, where they know they can live without fear of having to leave. Our society has consistently failed to provide this. We are told the market will be the answer, but it isn't. I hope this book will explain why, and point the way to a socially responsible economy"

The Editor (and part author) says of the book - further information here:

"At the heart of today’s housing crisis is the prioritisation of housing as real estate rather than as homes. In 2007, it was estimated that 60% of Britain’s wealth was made up of property, and property speculation has played an important part in wealth re-distribution."

"This speculative property market is a huge force for inequality, and, as a report for Shelter pointed out, a person’s ‘social position… will be increasingly determined by their parents’ housing wealth’."

The Highland-wide Local Development Plan has to be greater and better than something that will break and bend according to the vagaries of the market in order to fulfill the RPTI's expectations of planning:

"...It maintains the best of the past, whilst encouraging innovation in the design and development of future buildings and neighbourhoods to meet our future needs."

[*Amazon has 2 reviews of this book including:

"This volume provides a well considered and thoughtful analysis of the failures of decades of housing policy drawing on examples from accross the globe. Considering both the local and national contexts this book is an absolute must read for anyone working in the field of housing policy or housing research. The text provides a robust critique of current policies and goes a long way to help debunk the false policy choices that the neo-liberal experiment has presented to socitey."