Building more homes

Shelter believes the solution to England’s housing crisis lies in building more homes, and in 2007 the Government made an historic political commitment to do just that when it set the target of 3 million new homes by 2020. [1]

The right homes need to be built in the right places - and these homes need to be affordable. It’s also critical that new developments provide the necessary services and infrastructure to create thriving communities, and that they are built to high environmental standards. The mistakes of the 1960s and 70s must not be repeated.

Why more homes are needed

Supply of new homes is failing to keep pace with demand

England is currently suffering from a huge housing shortage, especially in terms of social rented housing. This shortage is due to the fact that low rates of house building over several decades have failed to keep up with increasing demand. Large amounts of social housing stock have also been sold off under the Right to Buy and not replaced.

Housing demand has increased for several reasons, such as:

• greater numbers of single person households
• a population which is living for longer
• increased levels of net immigration
  

The current crisis

With new housing supply failing to keep pace with increasing demand, private sector housing costs have been rising rapidly, sparking an affordability crisis. Large numbers of people have found themselves priced out of buying or even renting a home. This problem is particularly acute for young people on low salaries who are unable to get a foot on the property ladder or afford their rent.

Many public sector workers are effectively priced out of London or the South East due to the massive shortage of affordable housing, putting vital local services into question.

In England:

• Nearly 80,000 households were found to be homeless by local authorities in 2008/09. [2]
• There were almost 1.8 million households on local authority housing waiting lists in April 2008. [3]
• At the end of June 2009, 60,230 homeless households were living in temporary accommodation in England. [4]
• There are currently more than half a million households living in overcrowded conditions. [5]

England’s housing situation has reached crisis proportions. We desperately need more homes now.

Delivering the homes and communities people want

It is critical that any new homes benefit new and existing communities. This means building the right kind of homes, in the right places. At present, there is a shortage of decent, family-sized accommodation. It is also vital that a significant proportion of new housing is affordable, and this means building social housing for rent.

Shelter understands that new homes must be desirable places to live. We want to avoid repeating mistakes of the 1960s and 1970s where the quality of housing developments was sometimes sacrificed in a drive to build homes quickly. New developments must include the necessary supporting infrastructure and services to create thriving communities, and should be built to high environmental standards.

Three million new homes by 2020

In 2007, following Shelter's successful campaign for more homes, the Government committed to a target of building three million new homes by 2020.

Shelter is now campaigning at local, regional and national levels to ensure these vital homes are delivered and that there is an appropriate mix of low-cost homes, property for private sale, and social rented housing.
It is critical that a significant proportion of these new properties are homes suitable for families. Shelter has also called on the Government to prioritise affordable house building and to improve the use of planning agreements to ensure the necessary levels of social housing are built.

Campaign demands

We call on local and regional authorities, housebuilders, housing associations, the Homes and Communities Agency and the Government to work together to maximise the number of homes built, and to:

• prioritise affordable house building
• set ambitious targets for the number of social homes to be built between 2011 and 2020
• ensure enough family-sized accommodation is built
• improve enforcement of planning agreements to deliver affordable and social housing.
  

[1] Homes for the Future: More Affordable, More Sustainable, CLG, 2007
[2] Statutory Homelessness Statistics, Communities and Local Government 2009.
[3]  Rents, Lettings and Tenancies, Live Tables, Table 600, www.communities.gov.uk
[4] Statutory homelessness statistics, Communities and Local Government, 2009.
[5] Survey of English Housing Preliminary Report 2007/08, Communities and Local Government, 2009.

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