社论

　　Britain's planning laws

　　英国规划法

　　An Englishman's home

　　英国人之家

　　The shortage of housing is a gathering national crisis. Rev up the bulldozers

　　英国住房匮乏，危机重重，应大兴土木！

　　NOW that the economy is at last growing again, the burning issue inBritainis the cost of living.

　　既然英国最终恢复了经济增长，如今国民生活成本问题便成了燃眉之急。

　　Prices have outstripped wages for the past six years.

　　过去六年来，物价一直超过工资水平。

　　Politicians have duly harried energy companies to cut their bills, and flirted with raising the minimum wage.

　　政治家们已适时地督促能源公司削减账单，辅以增加最低工资水平的措施。

　　But the thing that is really out of control is the cost of housing.

　　但是真正失控的是房价。

　　In the past year wages have risen by 1%; property prices are up by 8.4%. This is merely the latest in a long surge.

　　去年，工资已增长了1%；房地产价格却增长了8.4%。

　　If since 1971 the price of groceries had risen as steeply as the cost of housing, a chicken would cost 51.

　　这仅仅是长期价格飙升中最近的一次。倘若自1971年，百货商品的价格以房价一样的增长比例大幅上涨，一只鸡将会卖到51英镑。

　　By subsidising mortgages, and thus boosting demand, the government is exacerbating the problem.

　　政府支助房屋贷款，进而促进需求，如此是不断使问题恶化。

　　But that is not the main reason for rising prices.

　　但是这并不是房价上涨的主要原因。

　　Driven by a baby-boom, immigration and longer lives,Britain's population is growing by around 0.8% per year, faster than in most rich countries.

　　受婴儿潮、移民、寿命延长的影响，英国人口每年以大约0.8%的比率增加，要比大多数富裕国家更快。

　　Foreign wealth, meantime, is pouring intoLondon.

　　同时，外来人口正不断涌入伦敦。

　　If supply were rising fast too, increasing demand would not matter; but it is not.

　　如果供给也增长迅速，那么日益增长的需求问题也就不值一提了；然而事与愿违。

　　Though some 221,000 additional households are formed in England annually, just 108,000 homes were built in the year to September 2013.

　　尽管每年英国都会新建多达22.1万的额外住房，2013年年初到9月仅有10.8万建好。

　　The lack of housing is an economic drag.

　　住房的匮乏一直给经济拖后腿。

　　About three-quarters of English job growth last year was inLondonand its hinterlands, but high prices make it hard for people to move there from less favoured spots.

　　去年，四分之三的就业率增长是来源于伦敦与一些内地贸易区，但高昂的房价如今使人们对这些地方望而却步。

　　It also damages lives.

　　人们的生活也因此深受其害。

　　New British homes are smaller than those anywhere else in Europe, household size is rising inLondonand slums are spreading as immigrants squash into shared houses.

　　新的英国住房变得比欧洲其他地方更小，但随着移民不断挤进合住房屋，伦敦的家庭规模日益庞大，贫民区也不断扩张。

　　Inequality is growing, because the higher property prices are, the greater the advantage that accrues to those whose parents own their homes.

　　不平等性日益明显，因为房价越高，对于父母拥有房子的家庭占据的优势越大。

　　This is all the result of deliberate policymaking.

　　这都是政府经过深思熟虑后才制定的政策。

　　Since the 1940s house-building inBritainhas been regulated by a system designed to prevent urban sprawl, something it has achieved spectacularly well.

　　自从20世纪40年代，英国就有专门的体系来控制建房以免城市扩张，部分成果显著。

　　It is almost impossible to construct any new building anywhere without permission from the local council.

　　要大兴土木必须要经过当地议会批准。

　　In the places where people most want to live—suburbs at the edge of big cities—councils tend not to give it.

　　但对于人人皆眼红的宝地—紧邻大城市的郊区—议会一般是不会批准。

　　Ministers have tried to override local NIMBYs.

　　部长们也努力推翻当地的邻避主义者。

　　The previous, Labour, government set regional house-building targets and bullied councils to accept high allocations.

　　之前的英国工党政府设立了区域性的建房目标以及强迫议会接受高额分配。

　　The current coalition has scrapped that approach in the name of local democracy—but it, too, has resorted to strong-arming councils to release more land.

　　现在的联合政府以当地民主之名不再采用了这种方式—但是它也有使高度警惕的议会让与出更多的土地。

　　It has also worked with the Bank of England to reduce the cost of credit and has subsidised high loan-to-value mortgages through a scheme called “Help to Buy”.

　　目前政府已和英格兰银行合作以减少信贷成本，也通过出台“购买帮手”这项体制以支持高额的贷款比率。

　　This has boosted demand for housing but not supply.

　　这都促进了人们对住房的购买需求，但没有提高住房的供给。

　　Compare global housing data over time with our interactive house-price tool

　　采用交互式的房价工具，比较全球楼市数据不同时段的变化

　　A much better way of encouraging house-building would be to give local councils bigger incentives to allow it.

　　鼓励建房更好的方式就是刺激当地议会批准它。

　　NIMBYism is not always irrational.

　　邻避主义者并不总是不理性的。

　　Housing developments spoil views; incomers fill roads, schools and doctors' surgeries.

　　楼市的发展会改变他们的观点；不断有移民者搭乘汽车上班、进入学校学习、去医院看病。

　　Yet though land prices can soar 200-fold when planning permission is granted, councils cannot extract much of the increased value to spend on services.

　　然而尽管建筑许可证的颁发使房价翻了200番，议会却无法将增值的大部分用之于服务。

　　A new scheme, the Community Infrastructure Levy, nods in the right direction.

　　社区基础设施征税这一新的体系算是走对了方向。

　　But it is hedged with restrictions and is expected to raise just 650m a year nationally. That is not nearly enough to change minds.

　　但是它的限制条件依旧模糊不清，可能税收每年全国范围仅会增长6.5亿英镑。这还不足以改变人们的观念。

　　Local governments, which are short of cash these days, could be allowed to charge developers much more.

　　当地政府如今缺乏资金，倒是可以向开发商收取些费用。

　　But the ideal solution would be a tax on the value of land.

　　但理想的解决方案是对土地价值征税。

　　This would be low or zero for agricultural land and would jump as soon as permission to build is granted.

　　这对于农业土地而言，税收近乎是零或者十分低，只要批准建房，那么税收就会猛增。

　　It would prod builders to get to work quickly.

　　如此可刺激建房者高效率工作。

　　It would also help to capture the gains in house prices that result from investment in transport or schools.

　　同时，也有助于获取因投资交通或学校的房价收益。

　　The green belts that stop development around big cities should go, or at least should be greatly weakened.

　　阻止大城市发展的绿化带必须去除或至少应极力减少。

　　They increase journey times without adding to human happiness.

　　他们只是增加人们旅行时间而没有提升人们幸福指数。

　　London's, in particular, mostly protects scrubby agricultural fields and pony paddocks.

　　尤其是伦敦的绿化带只是保护矮小的农业土地还有小马围场。

　　Parts would be prettier with housing on.

　　其中部分区域，在上面建上房屋会更宜人。

　　This blessed plot

　　天佑方案

　　The government should also do more to organise and pay for industrial wastelands to be prepared for housing.

　　政府也应大力组织或买下一些工业废址以为建房做准备。

　　“Brownfield” sites are typically built on only when land prices rise enough to cover the high cost of development.

　　只有当土地价格上涨至足以覆盖发展的高成本时，“布朗菲尔德”地区才特别作为建筑地址。

　　Urban development corporations, such as the one established in the 1980s to regenerate eastLondon's docklands, could assemble such plots of land more effectively than private developers.

　　城市发展性企业可以比私人开发商更有效地集合这类土地，比如20世纪80年代成立的一家城市发展性企业就使东部伦敦多克兰港区改头换面。

　　Not all these policies would be popular or easy.

　　并非所有的政策都容易实施或大众化推广。

　　Even the modest planning reforms introduced by the coalition are resented.

　　甚至联合政府引进的最保守的规划改革都令人怨声载道。

　　Building on fields in a country that is as crowded asEnglandwill always rile some people, however well-designed the system.

　　不管该体制有多好，在同英格兰那般拥挤的乡村田地上建房，总会激怒一些民众。

　　But the alternative is worse: a nation of renters and rentiers, where only the rich own houses

　　但是可选的办法更糟：国家属于房东与靠出租生活的人，只有这些有钱人才有房子。

　　1.flirt with 调戏，调情，卖俏

　　How could I believe it when you flirt with everyone?

　　当你和每个人调情的时候我怎么能相信你?

　　Most have chosen not to include a photograph, which seems odd. Who wants to flirt with a grey square?

　　大多数参与者都没有放照片，这显得很奇怪。有谁会愿意与一个灰色的方框调情呢？

　　2.squash into 挤进

　　He managed to squash into the car.

　　他设法挤进了车子。

　　We might squash five people into the back seat.

　　后座我们可以挤进5个人。

　　3.accrue to 累积的

　　Little benefit will accrue to london from the new road scheme.

　　新的道路计划对伦敦几乎没有什么好处。

　　Where the benefits are unlikely to accrue to private investors, who should pay for the early demonstration models, which will require billions of dollars?

　　在利益不可能属于私人投资者的情况下，初期模型演示的数十亿美元该由谁买单？

　　4.design to 用于设计

　　We can use design to make a website unique and more memorable.

　　我们能用设计使一个网站独一无二且更易记住。

　　Note: marriott has recently changed their design to be more like westin.

　　注：marriott近期将他们的设计改得更类似于westin的方式。