Housing Myths Debunked — YIMBY Glasgow

Myth 1

"New builds push up house prices in the area."

The evidence consistently points the other way. More supply means lower prices, at city-wide and neighbourhood level.

Myth 2

"We should only build social housing."

The UK has more social housing than almost any comparable country — and still has a severe crisis. The problem is total supply, not tenure.

Myth 3

"Rent controls are the answer."

Go universal and supply collapses. Go partial and you just pick winners and losers. Either way, you have not built a single home.

Myth 4

"Developers just build luxury flats nobody can afford."

Even expensive new homes free up older stock through a chain of moves. Competition pushes prices down across all segments.

Myth 5

"We don't need to build more homes. Just bring empty ones back into use."

The UK already has one of the lowest vacancy rates in the developed world. Empty homes are a symptom of the housing crisis, not a solution to it.

Myth 6

"Developers just sit on land and hoard it to keep prices high."

Independent reviews including the OFT and CMA have found no evidence of systematic landbanking. The planning system is the bottleneck, not developer greed.

Myth 7

"If we build enough to lower prices, developers will just stop building."

History shows the opposite. Britain built at scale for decades and housing was affordable. Lower land costs offset lower sale prices — developers can still make returns.

Myth 8

"Landlords set the rents."

Every landlord chooses the number on the listing. But the number that actually works is determined by supply and demand — not greed.

Myth 9

"Landlords operate as a monopoly."

Monopoly is a precise term. The UK rental market has 2.8 million independent landlords, no dominant firm, and no coordinated pricing. The framing is wrong — and leads to the wrong solutions.