You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
England needs 340,000 new homes a year, says NHF
England needs 340,000 new homes a year until 2031 to tackle the housing shortage, including 90,000 for social rent, new research has found.
That figure is significantly higher than the government’s target to build 300,000 homes a year by the mid-2020s.
In 2016/17, 217,000 new homes were delivered in England, with just 2.5% of these for social rent.
The research, conducted by Heriot-Watt University on behalf of the National Housing Federation (NHF) and homelessness charity Crisis, concluded the country has a housing need backlog of around four million homes.
READ MORE
Of the 340,000, analysts said 145,000 (43%) should be affordable to meet need – with the majority for social rent.
Intermediate affordable rent products should make up 30,000, while 25,000 new shared ownership homes are needed annually.
Only 23% of the homes built last year were affordable.
Housing sector leaders called on ministers to use the upcoming Social Housing Green Paper to “urgently redress the shocking shortfall in affordable housing” in light of the research.
In September, government announced an extra £2bn for affordable housing, estimating it will deliver around 25,000 homes for social rent over the next three years.
David Orr, chief executive of the NHF, said: “The shortfall of homes can’t be met overnight – instead, we need an urgent effort from the government to meet this need before it publishes its Social Housing Green Paper in the summer.
“The green paper will set out the government’s approach to tackling a number of key issues, like stigma of social housing tenants.
“However, it is clear that many of these stem from a chronic under investment in affordable housing. Fixing this should be the government’s top priority.”
He added that as a first step, the £2bn for social rent should be made “available immediately”.
Jon Sparkes, chief executive of Crisis, said: “Today’s findings are stark and shocking, but they also represent a huge opportunity for us as a country to get to grips with our housing and homelessness crisis – and to end it once and for all.”
“To truly get to grips with this crisis and ensure everyone has a safe and stable home, we must build the social and affordable housing we need to end homelessness once and for all.”
Terrie Alafat, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Housing, said: “For most people social rented housing is the only truly affordable option and the government must support the building of many more of these crucial homes.
“It should also urgently address the imbalance in its housing budget, which currently sees it spend just 21% of total housing funding on affordable housing, and give all of the organisations ready to deliver the homes, we so desperately need, the support and resource to do so.”
