The National Housing Federation has responded to government housebuilding figures showing the number of new homes completed in England.
Just 125,110 homes were built in England between April 2014 and March 2015, new government figures show today. That is 119,890 homes short of 245,000 - widely accepted as the number of new homes needed every year just to keep up with demand.
The National Housing Federation is calling on the new Government to invest in building new homes, including much needed affordable homes for low rent and shared ownership. It highlights that by building the 80,000 affordable homes the country desperately needs, it would add £8.1bn to the economy and support almost 170,000 full-time equivalent jobs.
In the past year housing associations have built 27,010 new homes, around a fifth of all homes built while local councils built just 1,230 over the same period.
In the four years 2011 to 2014, the total shortfall against the need for new homes totalled 515,340.
The housing backlog has been caused by decades of not building enough, coupled with a growing population as people live longer and the birth rate increases. The last ten years saw the birth of 7 million babies, around the same number born in the 1950s when England was building an average of 230,000 homes a year.
The lack of housing supply is pricing many people out of owning or renting a home in their local area. The average first-time buyer today needs £30,000 in today’s money, almost ten times the deposit required in the early 1980s. Private renters are also struggling, with the average renter in England paying 40 per cent of their wages every month on the roof over their head.
Henry Gregg, assistant director of campaigns and communication at the National Housing Federation, said: “We have a far reaching housing crisis and at its heart is the reality that not nearly enough homes have been built for a generation or more.
“We need urgent action to get more housing of all types built. Families and young people across the country are crying out for genuinely affordable homes they can rent long term and shared ownership homes to help them on the housing ladder.
“Housing associations are building, but they need a bold government to play its part too and lead the way for new homes. Our new Government has committed to end the housing crisis within a generation, now it must free up land and provide proper investment to make that happen.”
