Home Truths: the scale of Britain’s housing crisis and how to fix it

With fewer new homes being built year on year in the UK, the shortage of supply is keeping housing costs high despite the prolonged downturn. As a result, the cost of housing is putting ever greater pressure on household budgets, particularly for those living in the private rented sector. A growing number of low to middle income households are now spending upwards of a third of their income on housing. In parts of London and the South East, housing is only truly affordable for the most affluent but high housing costs are now a big problem across the country.

At this event, the Resolution Foundation and Hometrack presented new analysis highlighting the true costs of housing for low to middle income households across different tenures and the extent to which these costs are affordable in different parts of the UK. Natalie Elphicke, Keith Exford and Campbell Robb responded, giving their view on the scale of the challenge and what should be done next.