Introduction This post examines the function and potential roles of Town and Parish councils.  It is part of a series looking at local and regional government in Cornwall.   There are a total of 213 civil parishes of which, with the exception of some 16, are either Town or Parish councils.   Current functions Town and Parish councils play a part in delivering services – for example  allotments, parks and local spaces, car parks, events other community services and producing n

People often query why there is a difference between the cost of building a property and the price of the property. They assume that the difference is purely down to the cost of land and that this reflects the impact of planning.  But is this the correct analysis?   Lets look at why house prices are more than the cost of construction.   Land values Base component There is what we can term a base element or value. This will vary according to factors such as demand for land, po

The Cornish Social and Economic Research Group (CoSERG), responded to the then Governments proposals for changes to Cornish local government in 1992 in the document ‘Empowering Cornwall’ published in 1994. This post builds upon the 1994 report.   One element of the document proposed the establishment of Community Councils, decentralising non-strategic decision–making to the lowest possible level. The objectives behind the proposal were to: encourage local involvement, strengt

Understanding the context around housing and housing issues operates is essential.  Contrary to the simplistic assertions made by the supply and demand lobbyists and associated academics there are a number of factors which impact on housing, its availability, price and location.    We can create a model to explain how the housing market works or not!  The first element is that of population change, in particular the formation of new households.  In a steady state population n

The Government has announced in a MAGA style event at the Labour Party conference plans to build 12 new towns.  A policy heralded some time ago.  The assertion is that there is a housing shortage and building more houses is the answer.   The problem is that the government lacks understanding of the housing market and has fallen for the ‘we must build more houses’ mantra of the development lobby and associated free market lobby groups – incorrectly styled ‘think tanks’.    Con

Newquay is a settlement, which has undergone considerable change over the years.  Originating as Tewynplustri or Towan Blystra in 1305, it has evolved into an urban area spreading onto adjacent farmland.   So lets look at more recent history from 1991 to 2021.  Using census geographies, Newquay is divided into three Mid Super Output Areas (MSOAs) - 018 St. Columb Minor and Porth, 020 Newquay West and 021 Newquay East.  Looking at these areas its possible to examine how it has

There is a move on X (formerly known as Twitter), to promote the building of luxury housing in towns on the grounds that by so doing so, less affluent people will be able to move into those properties left by those moving up.  The supporters argue that where such housing is built, rents have fallen.   The assertion is flawed in a number of respects.  The studies quoted mistakenly use only two variables – additions to dwelling numbers and changes in rent.  In the real world it

In July 2024 the government introduced new housing targets.  Overall the objective is for a total of 1.5 million over a four-year period or 375,000 per annum. The rationale was that there is a housing shortage and a greater supply would make housing cheaper.   The evidence suggests otherwise.  There is already a surplus of 1.5 million dwellings in England. Problems of affordability and poor quality housing will not be addressed by building more. There are policy options to de

My London has extracted data on the number of second homes for each London borough from the council tax base for 2024.   A total of 48,930 were identified.  Chelsea & Kensington had the highest number at 7,667.  In all, seven boroughs accounted for 32,433 or 66.3% of the total.    Table 1 Second homes Share of all homes Borough No Cum no % Cum % Kensington and Chelsea 7667 7667 15.7 15.7 Tower Hamlets 7572 15239 15.5 31.1 Camden 6298 21537 12.9 44.0 Southwark 3148 24685 6.4 5

The business demography release examines data relating to enterprises.  It excludes those working as self-employed.     1.Main points The number of UK business births increased from 316,000 to 317,000 between 2023 and 2024; this has led to a small increase in the business birth rate from 11.0% to 11.1%.   The number of UK business deaths fell from 310,000 to 280,000 between 2023 and 2024; this has led to a decrease in the business death rate from 10.8% to 9.8%, the lowest dea

There are two distinct schools of thought on why house prices go up.  So different in their underlying assumptions that they exist in parallel universes.    One is based on the question of supply or rather the lack of it.  It is asserted that a lack of supply lies at the root of housing problems, rising prices, lack of affordability regarded as the main consequences.  This approach reflects mainstream thinking, supported by lobby groups, a number of academics and dominates th

There are two distinct schools of thought on why house prices go up.  They are so different in their underlying assumptions that they exist in parallel universes.    One is based on the question of supply or rather the lack of it.  It is asserted that a lack of supply lies at the root of housing problems, rising prices, lack of affordability regarded as the main consequences.  This approach reflects mainstream thinking, supported by lobby groups, a number of academics and dom

A recent post released under the auspices of Bank Underground, examined why house prices have increased since the mid 1990s. The authors Arno Hantzsche and Harriet Jeanes, state “Houses account for the largest share of total assets held by the UK household sector. Households’ spending and saving decisions depend in part on the price of these assets”  Therefore understanding the drivers of house price changes is essential in understanding how this important element of the econ

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) have recently released their estimates of greenhouse gas emissions for the UK.  Although all of the three categories of emission have seen a decline since 1990, the Footprint (consumption), which are the most useful one to consider saw the smallest fall of 20%.    Details from the ONS release are set out below together with details of how to access the source.   Main points UK greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) are reported on three bases

Data from the English Housing Survey (EHS) (2021-2022), gives some information about the number of households in England with a second property. The data covers properties let in the rented market, holiday homes, holiday lets and some let for students or for the household when working away from home.   The report indicates that there were some 3.33 million second properties owned by 885,000 households in England.  The main category consisted of properties let out as part of t

The holiday industry always portrays Cornwall as some idyllic, coastal and rural retreat.  An image which is at odds with life as lived by a lot of resident.s.   “W hen it comes to UK staycations, Cornwall continues to be one of the top picks — and it’s easy to see why. With its rugged coastline, picturesque villages and postcard-worthy beaches, Cornwall attracts a steady stream of domestic travellers, particularly during spring and summer. In recent years, demand for rural a

The census provides a number of datasets relating to holiday homes and visits to holiday homes.  These add to the picture of what dwellings are used for.  There are three sets of data used - listed in the sources section.     Summary     Type People Numbers Table Second addresses used as holiday homes Users 6,080 1c (1) Second addresses used as holiday homes All users 2,329 1e (2) Visitors to second address holiday home Users 14,230 1e (2) Second homes Owners 11,490      (3)

Data recently released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), provides details of employee earnings for the tax year ending 2025.  [The figures are provisional]. The data sets give a comparison between home and workplace figures, the figures for home/resident based employees and finally for workplace based employees.    In Cornwall, with the exception of part-time employees, the workplace figures are lower than for the home based. This reflects the fact that those who c

Data from the 2021 census gives the number of visits to each local authority and the usual residence of the visitor.  The data for Cornwall indicates that over half of users came from two regions – South West England (27.8%) and South East England (24.7%).    Location by region   Location of Usual residence Numbers % North East 40 0.3 North West 520 3.7 Yorkshire and The Humber 380 2.7 East Midlands 905 6.4 West Midlands 1650 11.6 East of England 955 6.7 London 2060 14.5 Sout

Tim Harford in his latest episode of ‘Cautionary tales’ illustrates the impact of news stories which gave the impression that trick and treat in the United States is fraught with danger due to people deliberately trying to poison children with the reality revealed by analysis of the data – which is that such danger does not exist.      The problem Tim Harford suggests is that people remember the story not the data.  This raises a significant problem in that while a story may