It’s often said that Britain has a housing crisis. But actually, it’s much more of a London housing crisis.
Despite notable improvements under the current Government, we are still building 70,000 fewer homes per year than is required by the level of household demand. But when you break those figures down by region, it turns out that 40,000 of those homes are in London.
In a new report for the Centre for Policy Studies, ‘Homes for Everyone’, I analysed up the total cumulative shortfall in housing demand since 2000, region by region. The gap in London is an eye-watering 343,436 homes – more than three times higher than the 95,957 in the South-East, which was the runner-up in terms of housing shortfall.
Sadiq Khan, the capital’s new Mayor, has certainly recognised the scale of the problem. ‘The housing crisis is the single biggest barrier to prosperity, growth and fairness facing Londoners today,’ his website sternly announces.
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