The building by hand thing is a bit of distraction to be honest. In the UK we already know we can build 'ok' housing for £2k per sqm, all in. Land is a minimum

The building by hand thing is a bit of distraction to be honest. In the UK we already know we can build 'ok' housing for £2k per sqm, all in. Land is a minimum of /Half/ the cost of a new build house, and frankly that is probably on the outskirts of some run down town in the midlands or something. Build in a populous, prosperous city and well you can imagine what portion of a £800k 50Sqm apartment is building cost, maybe 10% or so. It's the land with building permission which is scarce and insanely expensive. If you have a house in an area then you are motivated to block/object to all planning applications locally. Including lobbying your MP, campaigning and so on.