People 'worry about but misunderstand' the housing shortage

Some 80 per cent of UK citizens are deeply concerned about housing shortages across the country, reports have claimed.

A new YouGov poll commissioned by the New Homes Marketing Board (NHMB) found that housing shortages in crowded urban centres like London were a major concern – and needed to be addressed.

But despite their concern for the issue, the NHMB claimed that the public was not aware of the facts of homebuilding – especially the possibility of new building plans being achieved without the disruption imagined.

New homebuilding plans in the south-east envisage around 120,000 new homes annually for the next ten years, but the NHMB claimed that people thought this would consume much more than the one per cent of land actually needed for the expansion.

Another myth said to be swallowed by the public was that greenbelt land was already in danger, while the group claimed UK greenbelt-designated land had actually grown 65,000 acres over the past ten years.

The NHMB hoped that its report would help channel concerns over housing shortages into more concerted pressure for achieving what it estimated were not impossible targets.

What people are in less doubt over is the current shortage of affordable housing for sale in crowded areas like greater London – a trend leading many to seek more readily available rental property.

Published 7th December, 2007

© 2007 Estates IT Limited