England is facing a shortage of at least 600,000
new homes as population growth outpaces house building, according to new
analysis from Coventry Building Society.
Summary
. The deficit has been built up over 10 years of
population growth, leading to an ‘urgent need’ to build the right homes in the
right locations, the Coventry says.
According to Census information,
there were 3.1 million more adults in England in 2021 compared to 2011, with a
need for two million homes. But only 1.4 million houses were built during that
time.
In a breakdown of regions, the
analysis reveals the area with the biggest shortfall is London, with a new home
deficit of 147,352. This is closely followed by the South East (125,832), and
the East of England (104,654).
The South West, East Midlands,
West Midlands and North West all have housing shortages of between 76,000 and
62,000. There’s a smaller deficit in Yorkshire & The Humber of 14,724,
while the only region with a surplus of new homes is the North East, where
figures suggest there are 26,985 homes available.
It’s worth pointing out that the
estimates given are a minimum as they are only based on first-time buyers and
do not factor in growth in single person households as a result of separation
or bereavement.
Coventry BS is now looking to this
week’s Budget for any measures which may help address the situation.
Coventry Building Society head of intermediary
relationships, Jonathan Stinton, comments: “Year after year there’s been a
consistent shortfall in capacity to build the homes people need, it’s
unsurprising there’s a huge deficit. The problem needs to be addressed now to
make sure there are enough homes for everyone who wants to buy or rent a place
of their own.
Taken from a story written by Linda Ram 13th March 2023 for Mortgage Strategy https://www.mortgagestrategy.co.uk/news/england-faces-huge-deficit-of-new-homes-coventry/