Government defends house building activity
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The Department for Communities and Local Government has defen-ded its house building efforts follow-ing a report last week claiming England could face a housing short-fall of 750,000 by 2025.
Research from the Institute for Public Policy Research reveals the gap between supply and demand could be equivalent to the com-bined housing demand of Birm-ingham, Liverpool and Newcastle.
It says in a weak economy 200,000 homes a year need to be built and 280,000 if the economy bounces back. But if housing supply contin-ues at the rate of the past 20 years - around 160,000 additions per year - the housing gap will be between 255,000 and 1.2 million by 2025.
Nick Pearce, director of IPPR, says: “Our ageing population and rising expectations for living stan-dards drive up demand but if there’s no change in housing policy it will seriously hold back supply.”
But a DCLG spokesman says the government has introduced meas-ures to boost house building, includ-ing reform of the planning system and giving communities the power to deliver new homes directly.
He says: “From April the govern-ment will introduce a New Homes Bonus that will match the addition-al Council Tax raised for new homes and empty properties brought back into use, with a premium for afford-able homes for the following six years.”
He says this and other measures should create an environment in which new housing is more readily available.
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