Shelter comments on annual housebulding figures
Posted 16 Nov 2017
There were 217,350 additional dwellings between 2016/2017, and increase of 15% on last year (source: DCLG)
However, according to government statistics out last week, the total number of affordable homes built in England last year was 41,530, well below the average over the past ten years. This means that only 19% of new properties announced today are classed as affordable (source: DCLG)
The biggest changes in supply were seen via conversions (splitting homes to make more units) and change of use (conversions from offices to flats for example), at 19% and 22% respectively. Worryingly, these dwellings have no quality assurance or affordable housing obligation
Shelter says we must build at least 250,000 new homes a year – 125,000 of which should be genuinely affordable. Affordable homes should take up no more than one-third of local people’s incomes
Polly Neate, chief executive at Shelter, said: 'It’s good to see the Prime Minister shedding light on housebuilding and new statistics showing some increase in new homes, however the numbers are still well short of the government’s own targets and we should be crystal clear that not even a fifth of these are affordable.
'With hundreds of thousands of people homeless this Christmas and those in need of affordable homes going up all the time, owing to a crippling combination of soaring rents and welfare cuts, these numbers fall woefully short.
'If the government is serious about tackling our housing crisis and helping the millions of families on lower incomes in the upcoming budget then sticking plasters will not be enough – it must urgently prioritise building homes which are genuinely affordable for ordinary people to rent or buy.'
