Recent data suggests that the Government will fall short of reaching its 1 million housing target by 2020.
According to figures from the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government, 386,160 homes were constructed between 2015 – when the pledge was first made – and the end of last year. Over the past two years, the number of new builds in the process of being constructed rose by 7,235 on average.
Forecasting growth based this on this average rate, an extra 529,950 homes would be built by 2020, bringing the total to 916,110. This represents a shortfall of 83,890.
Commenting on the figures was Sam Mitchell. The Chief Executive of Housesimple.com said: “It could be a case of better late than never if the rate of building growth is to be believed but it’s going to be a tall order to keep this going for the next seven years.
“The Government’s main concern should be the anticipated failure to deliver on its most basic pledge to build one million homes by the end of 2020. If they fail, critics will simply paint the more lofty aspirations to build 300,000 homes a year as a piece of political theatre.
“This issue deserves to be more than a distraction for voters and it would help if the revolving door of housing ministers were to stop.
“The housing crisis is real and affordability problems play havoc with other parts of the economy as first-time buyers in particular are forced to part with significant chunks of their disposable income in order to get on the housing ladder.”
