UK Housing Market 'Will Never Meet Need'

The nature of the UK housing market means it is unlikely to ever produce enough homes to meet demand, according to a report commissioned by homelessness charity Shelter.  The report recognises the importance of housing in the economy and that it should be a ‘central element’ of any investment in infrastructure in the UK.  But it notes the fixed supply of land and planning requirements leads to long lead times of development, making house building a ‘risky industry’.  The report suggests planning and building regulations lead house builders to focus more on land management and action to improve their financial position rather than innovation and production. This is likely to have been exacerbated by the recession, it says. It concludes planning reforms may improve the supply of housing but can ‘only ever limit rather than remove the costs and constraints imposed on the availability of land’.  Download a copy of the report from the Shelter website.