News

London Crisis - Homes & Property March 06

Not enough homes are being built. We will see a shortfall of 50,000 new homes a year over the next decade and a total shortfall of more than half a million by 2006, according to a government report. That would mean continuing high prices, with people on average incomes or below still priced out of the market.

The Government's strategy to make homes more affordable is to increase supply, and 160,000 homes are now built annually. But according to projections just announced by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, the number of households in England is set to rise by 4.8 million in the next 20 years, requiring 209,000 new homes a year.

This projected rise will mostly be caused by population growth, and by an increase in single-person households of 150,000 yearly, partly due to our ageing population.