Another property market flaw - Hollowing out town centres

THE fraught interface between the market and public need is seen in stark terms in our dysfunctional housing market. Business, naturally, puts the necessity of profit before social projects. 

That is the accepted norm and we must deal with the consequences — that is why we have a housing minister trying to resolve a crisis more than a decade in the making.

Over the weekend Retail Excellence (RE), an organisation that represents retailers, pointed to another property-market practice that seems, at best undesirable. RE warned that the potential of more than a dozen town centres is in question because large stores in pivotal locations have been closed.