Property Prices

There’s a common line of thinking in the City that suggests that politics would be so much more straightforward, were it not for meddling ministers.

And that doing business – irrespective of where in the world you operate - would be far easier without having to toe the local political line.

For, quite apart from your political creed, politicians can divide as much as they unite. With the ability for governmental departments to consistently smother fresh entrepreneurial spirit, etched into the history of many an aspiring firm.

However, once in a while a divisive issue comes to the fore that is in danger of being chronically misrepresented – from both sides and at every level.

And that as a result, it becomes necessary to step back, create some clarity and separate the fact from the fiction.

So it is that we come to the delicate issue of property prices, wind turbines and the fiefdom of the self-appointed protectors of the countryside.

Let’s dial it back a little.

For in this particular instance it’s a UK-specific issue that serves as a microcosm of a far wider international energy debate.

Earlier in the summer, an aspiring minister commissioned Frontier Economics to calculate how house prices will be affected by a series of UK energy projects.

The as yet unpublished report is intended to encompass offshore wind, overhead power lines, shale gas, anaerobic digestion plants and nuclear power. So far, so good.

Only here’s the thing. The report was commissioned by the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs as part of a department line of thinking that was intended to 'rural-proof' public policy.

That’s an interesting choice of phrase. Since it smacks of closed minded thinking on a number of levels. Worse still, following the resultant, and very public, inter-departmental spat between the energy and rural affairs government units it’s the wider interests of the general public that once again get lost in the melee.

Indeed, with each division drawing their respective lines in the sand, the end result is one of mixed messages and a lack of any consistency, above all else.

And, in an era when the need to communicate a fresh approach towards the way in which we meet future domestic energy needs reaches fever pitch, it’s a sideshow that hardly helps.

For some, questions may be raised regarding why private sector institutions haven’t already waded into the debate, while for others they’ll be quick to point to numerous reports and studies already in circulation that prove and disprove the various theories.

And let’s be clear, these reports aren’t limited to the UK either. Since a whole multitude of studies have already been undertaken in North America and in mainland Europe, to help provide further clarity and thinking.

Sure, they all help. And naturally questions around impartiality and scientific rigour will resurface again and again. That’s certain even if nothing else is.

However, what’s not so clear for the domestic consumer is the disparity between short-term property prices and the long-term impact of rising energy bills.

And, in an era when energy independence is key, isn’t that the wider message that all governmental departments and commercial entities should really be focused on?