UK Housing Crisis

The UK government is expecting to build 250000 homes by 2022 as a part of the plan to meet the growing demand for property for new social homes. A recent report by Shelter found at least 1.2 million homes are needed for younger families facing unaffordability issues and insecurity problems in private renting.

For many years, stringent planning restrictions by the government prevented the development of properties in regions where people wanted to own homes. Changes are needed to redesign the city and improve commutations facilities and job opportunities in some regions.

There are plans to use high-tech construction mechanisms to redesign certain spaces, which are now used as warehouse or retail spaces.  

Shelter report claims that schemes such as Help to buy are unable to meet the growing requirement of young buyers and are unable to provide fair social housing; over 1 million homes are required to meet the demand of homeless people in greatest need, which includes those who are old and living with a disability. 

Housing and Renting Problems 

Shelter reports claim the housing benefit scheme has been made unreasonably expensive and complicated, forcing people to opt for private renting at a higher cost.

The key problems identified in the report are - homeownership is becoming unaffordable and rental markets continue to remain unpredictable, unstable and unable to provide long-term secure tenancies to people. This problem persisted for over a decade and is growing to become one of the biggest challenges for the conservative government.

It is observed that even after a decline in home prices in the last few months, one in three millennials are not buying. A report on social housing compiled by an independent commission found private renting was growing where families are finding it difficult to pay private rent. Some families face omission of tenancies for six months or get kicked out of their homes for no reason. 

Many low-income private renters spend over 67 per cent of their earnings on rent. In such conditions, they cannot afford to buy new homes, and if they do not get social housing, they will continue to face housing renting issues.

How can they save for deposits in conditions where they struggle to make ends? In addition, many such renters live with the constant threat of eviction and cannot plan their children's education. 

The government Need to Save and Construct New Homes.

The number of new social homes built reduced to just 6,463 in the last year, and it is necessary to construct more affordable homes to meet the growing demand. In addition, the report on social homes may require a cost of over £10.7bn a year, according to the analysis by Capital Economics. 

The Shelter report provides recommendations to resolve the social housing crisis. The report was authored by 16 independent commissioners, including politicians, architects, and other housing experts. It recommends saving £60 billion over 30 years for creating inexpensive renting. It is expected the increase in the number of social homes will be able to reduce rents.  

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