We all know that we are in the middle of the greatest housing crisis the country has ever seen. The problems are so complex and affect every part of the housing industry I find it difficult to know where to start.
We aren’t building anywhere near enough homes to house the current and future population. We require at least 300,000 new homes per year, but we are building less than half that number, so the problem actually gets worse as every year goes by. This is a simple case of supply and demand, so if we are building fewer houses and more people want them then the price of each house goes through the roof. Homes become less affordable and more people are stuck in the rental game where they have no long-term stability as the rental market is a bit of a mess too. Also the way we build homes is stuck in the dark ages and should be far more innovative.
Combine that with the fact there is a massive skills shortage in Britain, so even if the land was made available for new homes, we don’t have the people available with the necessary skills to build the houses anyway. Those talented people with building skills had to find alternative work when the recession hit in 2007 and they have grown tired of the boom and bust building economy so many were happy to get out of the industry anyway.