Housing Shortage Hits One Million

Exactly a decade on from the seminal Barker Review of Housing Supply that warned that at least 210,000 private homes a year were needed in England to avert a housing crisis, the scale of the housing shortage has become apparent. In the 10 years since the warning was made, in a report for the then Labour Government, an average of just 115,000 homes a year have been built, meaning the country is now 1 million homes short of what was needed to adequately  house its population and prevent a worsening affordability crisis. To put this into perspective, this shortfall is now equivalent to the number of homes in Birmingham and the surrounding areas. Read more on the Home Builders Federation website.