The UK also has a long history of poorly distributed land "ownership" [1]. Considerably more than half the land in the UK is controlled by approximately 6000 fa

The UK also has a long history of poorly distributed land "ownership" [1]. Considerably more than half the land in the UK is controlled by approximately 6000 families. The wealthiest were given real law-making / killing power through the House of Lords until 1999, when most (but not all) hereditary peerages were removed. Much of this land comes with subsidies and titles. Immense amounts of money can be made from grouse shooting. There's not really an incentive to sell land. There also tends to be a stigma in selling off inherited land -- like the end of a dynasty. Much of the land that is bought by developers is land that was sold by developers. When land is sold from these families, it is sold for very high amounts because demand is high and supply is low. Land can make up ~50% of a new house price. I do not know if there is any collusion amongst those who do own the land, but any such collusion would bring enormous advantages and would almost certainly not be condemned in any way. Affordable housing in the UK is a needlessly scarce resource. Instead of focusing on supply, which would lead to a long-term solution, much of the media has jumped through hoops to focus on the short-term demand caused by immigration whilst ignoring the slightly peculiar policy to sell off state-owned affordable housing to banks. --- [1] Land ownership in England and Wales is interesting -- the Crown owns all the land, and landowners buy a title to the land. Scotland is different again and a greater proportion of land is in the hands of a smaller proportion of the population.