The straws in the wind tell us that the government could well introduce a development land tax, which they call a planning gain supplement, in the forthcoming pre-budget report. The odds are that they will do it wrong, levying it on the increased value which land acquires when it receives planning permission. The cash would go to the Treasury, "to fund new schools and hospitals."

This simply acts as a brake inhibiting development by raising its costs. It gives local authorities no incentive to back development for the increase in revenues it might bring them. Instead they will face the costs and political opposition to development. Jenny Davey reports (Times) that the British Property Federation has proposed a more sensible alternative.

The BPF instead wants a planning tariff system that would give a price per square foot for commercial development or a price per unit for homes. Ms Peace said a tariff system would be more transparent and could replace the 106 agreements that currently fund community facilities. The BPF said that a planning gain supplement would be difficult to collect, unlikely to raise a significant sum for infrastructure and would deter development.

No matter, though, because Gordon Brown would prefer to have the money directed for him to spend, rather than kept for local improvement. To him this is just another stealth tax which ordinary people will not notice, and which will only upset a few rich property investors who don’t count for much anyway. That's how policy is made these days, and why it's so often bad.