Professor Philip Lane:

Again, that is something I do not cover in great detail. It is a fact that there were many tax breaks and allowances. Again, it is not just at the level of the developer. The fact is that mortgage interest relief and other tax breaks existed. Perhaps a more generous interpretation is that some of the tax breaks might have made sense at a particular time, but the fact that they were prolonged and not eliminated must be borne in mind. Around the world, that is an issue. Historically, tax breaks, even when temporary, tend to get rolled over and are continued. Perhaps having a system with a much tougher approach to the renewal of tax breaks could have been part of what could have happened.