NEW: housing shortages, affordability crises and NIMBYism are growing problems in many countries, but what’s especially striking is how much worse they all are in Anglophone countries 🇬🇧🇺🇸🇦🇺🇳🇿🇨🇦🇮🇪

What’s going on?

My column -> https://t.co/aT14VAzQSm https://t.co/VimZVgNbmN

This was the chart (via @geographyjim) that first caught my eye.

• Asia: started from a low base, but now building lots
• Most of developed Europe: steady rates of growth
• Anglosphere: not enough to start with, and not enough being built

Why the Anglo exceptionalism? https://t.co/lbydMb0drU

As always, there will be many factors at play, but one thing that shows up time and time again is Anglo discomfort with density.

And by density I don’t mean towering high-rises, I mean the beautiful apartment blocks you see in places like Copenhagen, Barcelona, Paris etc. https://t.co/9gx2csPNEP

There’s a common view that Anglos (especially Brits) hate any and all new housing.

It’s partially true, but masks nuance.

Brits are indeed more opposed to new housing than others, but they’re especially opposed to anything more than two-storeys tall.

Apartments? Hate them. https://t.co/zqpU8e8V5q

The result is that far fewer people live in apartments and flats in English-speaking countries than elsewhere, and Anglo cities are *staggeringly* low-density. https://t.co/8PIzouKza7

There’s an irony here, in that one reasons the English-speaking world doesn’t build enough is concerns over impact to "nature" (see below), but by shunning density, you encourage sprawling, car-dependent cities, which does far more environmental damage https://www.planningresource.co.uk/article/1351147/rare-spider-population-helps-thwart-plymouth-homes-plan

So why the opposition to apartments?

Many reasons:

1) Quality of apartments in places like England is crap compared to the continent. Cheap materials, negligible noise insulation, tiny floor space. As @tobylloyd points out, this is completely backwards https://twitter.com/tobylloyd/status/1636646347259490306

2) This isn’t about zoning vs UK’s discretionary system. The other 5 Anglo countries have zoning, but all 6 systems facilitate reactive objections to individual applications, rather than proactive public engagement at the policy-setting stage.

In other words, Nimbys welcome!

3) I think there is something inherent in the Anglo culture that places a high value on a solo home.

Think the "white picket fence" American dream, similar versions of which abound in Australia and New Zealand. https://t.co/NETLgOwoXJ

Others suggest additional issues that extend beyond the anti-apartment stance.

Home-as-asset seems to be an especially pronounced issue in Anglo countries, while the rules in many of these countries also facilitate homes-as-investment.

Neither helps either supply or prices.

But ultimately, I think the opposition to apartments is something we need to fix regardless.

Not only should it help tackle the housing crisis, it is also good for the environment and will help boost productivity (https://www.ft.com/content/a45e028d-4b81-4bef-9546-970838ab963a) https://t.co/JlhzUwDXl2

Here’s the column again, and let me know if there are things I should be looking at on this topic 🙏 https://enterprise-sharing.ft.com/redeem/fb074595-db82-4ca5-b393-4d55b7cd92cc

Some thanks
• @geographyjim for compiling the international data on housing supply https://github.com/jgleeson/PublicHouse
• @mattsmithetc, @CarlBialik and co at YouGov for running the international survey
• Various others including @AntBreach & @ChrisALHilber for letting me pick their brains