One of the little problemettes that we have with government is this left hand, right hand, thing. The entire beast is so complex, intervenes in so many different ways, that that left hand can be doing something entirely at odds with what the right hand is tyrying to achieve. And so it is here:

Landlords will be banned from renting out England and Wales’ draughtiest homes from 2018 in a bid to cut energy bills and carbon emissions. The new regulations are expected to help around a million tenants who are paying as much as £1,000 a year more than the average annual bill of £1,265 because of poorly insulated homes.

Campaigners hailed the move as potentially the most significant piece of legislation in a generation aimed at improving building stock in England and Wales, which is some of the oldest and leakiest in Europe.

We're told, in increasingly screeching tones, that the major problem facing the country is the lack of homes available for people to live in. In response to which the government decides to take 1 million homes off the market. Or, in an alternative formulation, insist that large investments be made in extant housing to the detriment of investment in the more housing needed.

Oh, well done there, well done indeed!