Urban sprawl

Jacqui Lait (that's French for 'milk'), Tory housing spokeswoman, is there to represent the interests of home-owners in the South East by ensuring a very restricted supply of housing, thus (hopefully) maintaining prices at their current ridiculous levels.

Of course, this is at the expense of people who would love to move to higher-wage areas; of businesses in the South East who would love to have more potential customers and employees; of farmers in the South East who would love to sell off an acre of farmland for £millions for residential; and of home-builders who would love to build homes.

But sod them! Oh no, we can't put it as crudely as that. Quick! Think of an excuse, ah, yes, I've got it, say we are trying to prevent 'urban sprawl'!

Jesus H F***!! Everything was forests a thousand years ago, then we chopped them down and had fields, then we built houses (and supporting infrastructure) and then our population grew and then we built more houses (and more supporting infrastructure). I live in a house in East London that may have been 'urban sprawl' a century ago when it was built, which has quadrupled in value over the last ten years.

What right do I (as a home owner in the South East) have to deny the priced-out generation the same opportunity? Either we build loads of flats in cities ("overcrowding") or we build family homes with decent sized gardens at the edge of towns ("urban sprawl").

Bastards.

Update - Jonathan Guthrie of the FT says much the same in today's Notebook, but in a slightly more light-hearted manner (scroll down to "Get off my land").