More Than Half a Million People Could Be Added to Housing Waiting Lists

More than half a million people could be added to housing waiting lists – and 283,000 construction industry jobs lost or not created – if the Government slashes the affordable housebuilding budget by 40%, a leading campaign group has warned. The National Housing Federation said ministers, who are looking at making cuts to departmental budgets of up to 40%, risked shutting the door on an entire generation of families on lower incomes by withdrawing billions of pounds worth of funding for affordable housing schemes. Waiting lists are already at record levels with 4.5 million people currently waiting for a social home in England, while an estimated one million children are living in overcrowded housing. But just as the demand for new homes has reached new highs, the number of homes being built has slumped to its lowest level since the Second World War with just 123,000 built in 2009/10. Read the full story on the NHF website.