A staggering 550,000 new homes need to be built each year in England until 2031 to address a significant housing shortage, according to new research by property consultancy Bidwells. The study, conducted in collaboration with the Office for National Statistics, reveals that England currently faces a shortfall of 2.5 million homes.
The urgent need for new housing is underscored by Bidwells’ findings, which far surpass the housing pledge made by Labour leader Keir Starmer. Starmer has committed to constructing 1.5 million homes, or 300,000 annually, by the end of the next parliamentary term if his party comes to power. At this pace, the housing crisis would persist for another 40 years, Bidwells warns.
The analysis is part of Bidwells’ latest report, “The Productivity Engine,” which examines critical obstacles to UK productivity growth. The report highlights one of Europe’s most restrictive planning systems and a chronic lack of public sector investment in housebuilding as key factors perpetuating the housing shortage.
The findings have sparked a renewed call for policy changes and increased investment to tackle the housing crisis head-on. As the population continues to grow, the pressure mounts on policymakers to address this critical issue with urgency and resolve.
NetRent Comment
This study may well show the scale of the housing problem in the UK but identifying it is a million miles away from actually coming up with answers to deal with it.
For example, where would the raw materials come from, where would the labour come from, there would have to be a seismic change in planning to accomplish over half a million new builds annually. But most of all where would the buyers come from? Are we genuinely saying that there’s half a million new home owners every year ready and able to obtain mortgages? And finally what would these numbers do to the value of existing homes?
Even the 300,000 promised by Starmer is stretching credibility to breaking point. The total infrastructure required to build that number of new homes simply isn’t there, most housebuilders simply cannot get enough skilled bricklayers/plumbers/joiners/electricians etc now and the numbers of new homes being built are nowhere near 300,000, let alone 500,000.
Solving the housing crises is as complicated as solving the health service crises and no amount of soundbites from politicians or ‘research’ from the likes of Bidwells is going to change that.