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It is a truth universally acknowledged that the UK is in something of a housing crisis. Home ownership has been declining for half a century. 90% of 25-34 year olds face average regional housing prices 3 to 4 times their income, up from less than half 20 years ago. Rent as a share of income has been rising, making the prospect of saving for mortgage deposit increasingly remote.

This August, the Government proposed an ambitious overhaul of the planning system, aiming to facilitate the end of the housing crisis through the annual construction of 300,000 new homes.

However, if the existence of a housing crisis is a truth universally acknowledged, the means by which it should be addressed is certainly not.

There are some who dispute the idea that lack of supply is driving the housing crisis, that planning reform will not actually do much to reduce rent or lower the price of home ownership, that the crisis is one of affordability and not of shortage.

Others have more specific reservations about the Government’s proposals, suggesting they could lead to overdevelopment in the south at the expense of the north, or that the standard of housing will be compromised.

Panel:

- John Macdonald (host): Head of Government Affairs, Adam Smith Institute

- Vera Kichanova is an urban policy researcher, journalist and civil rights activist currently working with Zaha Hadid Architects. Her comments have been published by The New York Times, Forbes, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and The Telegraph.

- Sam Bowman is Director of Competition Policy at the International Center for Law and Economics and Senior Fellow at the Adam Smith Institute. He was previously an advisor at Fingleton, a London-based regulatory and competition advisory firm.

- John Myers is co-founder of London YIMBY, a grassroots campaign to end the housing crisis with the support of local people.