We want to build 1m more English homes by 2020, says government

The government is aiming to build 1m new homes by the end of this parliament, as figures show a shortfall in the number of properties needed in England.

Fewer than 460,000 homes were built between 2011 and 2014, according to figures from the National Housing Federation reported by the BBC, despite forecasts that 974,000 houses were needed.

The shortfall shows that more new homes are urgently needed, the director of policy and external affairs for the federation, Gill Payne, said.

“We haven’t built enough homes in this country for decades, and if the gap between the number of households forming and the number of new homes being built continues to grow, we are in danger of not being able to house our children,” she said.

The housing minister, Brandon Lewis, projected a target of 1m new homes in the next five years. He told the BBC’s Inside Out programme: “By the end of this parliament, success would mean that we have seen a build in total of something like a million homes.”

Figures released last month showed the number of new homes being started by builders in England fell at its steepest rate for three years in the latest quarter.

A 14% decline in housing starts to 33,280 from April to June was the sharpest since January to March 2012, according to the government’s own seasonally adjusted data. Starts were 6% lower year-on-year.

It meant the pace of new housebuilding was 32% below its peak level in 2007, though 94% above a trough at the height of the financial crisis in 2009.

Shelter’s chief executive, Campbell Robb, said: “We are past the time for another grand statement of ambition. To give ordinary families back the hope of a stable home, we need to see investment and a comprehensive plan that can actually get these homes built.

“Everyone is agreed that we need to build many more homes each year to meet decades of shortfall, and the comprehensive spending review is the government’s last chance to prove it is serious about delivering on its promises. Investment in genuinely affordable homes and a robust plan to get Britain building is the only thing that can stem this crisis.”