Tinkering with the mortgage market won't solve the UK housing affordability crisis

By Mark Stephens, Mactaggart Chair in Land, Property & Urban Studies at the University of Glasgow, University of Glasgow

UK borrowers may see the return of larger, longer-term loans as the government plans a comprehensive review of the mortgage market with the aim of boosting access to finance for first-time buyers. Rather than addressing the real problems with UK housing affordability though, this approach seems to be aimed at helping dig the government out of a housing policy hole.

Last May, Michael Gove, the secretary of state for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities,…

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