Where are we all going to live?
England’s desperate need for more homes is becoming more acute, with new research estimating that 312,000 homes must be built each year for the next five years just to match the forecast growth in numbers of households.
The government has said that it is aiming to build 500,000 homes by the year 2020, but even if this figure is actually realised (and there are major doubts about that), then it will only have built a third of the required number.
The research, which comes from the Town and Country Planning Association, said that in the long term, the UK must continue to build 220,000 homes a year until 2031, with an astonishing 55% required in London and the south east.
TCPA chief executive Kate Henderson said: “The government needs to see this as a wake-up call. It has already fallen behind on targets for house building, and this is now having a devastating effect on young people.”
Even if the long term goal is reached, couples aged 25–34 will still be in a worse position in 2034 to purchase a home than couples of the same age in 2011.
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