Government has managed to mess up its own great property conversion plan - Telegraph

Government has managed to mess up its own great property conversion plan - Telegraph

With the noblest of motives, but ignoring the law of unintended consequences, their interventions often do little good yet manage to gum up the works. So, it was with great joy that I heard of the current government's proposal to withdraw the public sector from one bit of property market interference.

I refer to the proposal to allow conversions of commercial property to residential use without having to seek planning permission. This is just the sort of policy that the Government should be adopting: it would improve the supply capacity of the economy and boost aggregate demand. Yet it wouldn't cost the public purse a penny.