House builders are not a bunch of bankers

On The Abundance Agenda this week:

* Martin debunks the myth of ‘land-banking’ – and explains why all of the incentives for housing developers are totally broken.

* James explores a new paper which sets out how the government could conceivably build Heathrow’s notorious third runway… before the next election!

* And we speak to the excellent Michael Dnes about how a focus on time can speed up infrastructure planning – and breaks James’s brain with tails of Britain approving a nuclear plant in a national park… in just three days.

You can find “Getting Britain Off The Ground” at Labour Together or the Centre for British Progress.

The IPPR paper Martin was not a massive fan of is here.

Michael Dnes’s paper on “Making Britain Build Again” is here.

Michael also mentions a thread he did on the prospects of reviving HS2 to Manchester – you can find it here.

Ian Mansfield’s piece on the case for closing Heathrow and building Boris Island is here.

James’s latest is on Nigel Farage and the threat a Reform government might pose to Britain’s institutions.

Martin’s latest is on the troubles at the ONS and how weirdly precisely we measure GDP.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about the pod – and leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts!

The Abundance Agenda is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and hopefully wherever you get your podcasts!

You can find James on Bluesky here, and Martin here.

00:21 The Housing Crisis: Greedy Developers or Systemic Issues?

02:10 Debunking the Land Banking Myth

07:22 The Realities of Slow Build-Outs

10:09 The Economics of Land Value

13:02 Government Intervention and Housing Market Solutions

18:43 Heathrow's Third Runway: A Controversial Expansion

23:49 Global Comparisons and Feasibility of Rapid Airport Construction

25:56 Proposed Reforms for Infrastructure Development

31:20 Proposing a Shorter Third Runway

32:20 Controversies and Government Decisions

32:36 Infrastructure Ideas Beyond Heathrow

32:52 Government's Role in Decision Making

33:54 Housekeeping and Listener Engagement

35:18 Introducing Michael Ness and His Report

36:20 Historical Context of Britain's Infrastructure

37:55 Challenges in Modern Infrastructure Planning

43:54 Proposed Solutions for Faster Planning

51:30 Specialist Infrastructure Tribunals

53:45 HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail Discussion

57:06 Conclusion and Listener Call to Action