<b><b>There is a growing school of thought that the major home builders are pushing up house prices by their control of large land banks. But Robert Jones argues that land banks are vital for the industry&amp;’s forward strategy and there should be a robust defence of the important part they play and a call for government to tackle the real causes of home shortages</b></b><br><b>There is a highly dangerous argument regarding residential building land that is gaining credence at the moment amongst both the industry&amp;’s opponents in the anti-development lobby and even amongst vaguely pro-development government officials. It relates to land banks. It is being said that the major home builders control such a proportion of developable land that they can effectively drive up house prices by limiting the supply. Like all such specious arguments there is just a scintilla of truth in it and a scintilla is more than enough when those who are really responsible for the shortages want to absolve themselves from responsibility.</b><br><b><b>basic supply</b></b><br> The case for land banks is itself strong. Any industry needs to be sure of the supply of basic materials in order to avoid sudden shortages with all the consequences, economic and practical. Sometimes …