Property prices likely to double in 'broken' market

The price of a home in England is likely to double over the next 10 years to around £446,000 unless stronger action is taken to tackle the "broken" housing market, charity Shelter has warned.

Live updates

Generation face a future 'living in childhood bedrooms'

A generation of young people face a future "living in their childhood bedrooms", until their mid-thirties because of a chronic shortage of affordable homes, Shelter has warned.

Campbell Robb, Shelter's chief executive, said:

Our chronic shortage of affordable homes means that a generation face a future of living in their childhood bedrooms into their thirties.

But this report proves that the next government can turn the tide on the housing shortage within a single parliament.

The thousands of young people and families forced to watch their dream of stable home slip further out of reach are already paying the price for successive governments' failure to build the homes we need.

With housing now a top issue for voters, politicians of all parties are rightly beginning to feel the need to act.

– Campbell Robb

Shelter calls for 'national housing investment bank'

A "national housing investment bank" should be introduced to help housing providers build more homes in order to fix England's "broken" market, charity Shelter has recommended.

In their report Building The Homes We Need, co-authored with KPMG, they said:

  • The investment bank would provide low cost, long-term loans for housing providers.
  • It said the bank could also offer special savings accounts, such as "housing Isas" to raise finance from retail deposits.
  • Local authorities should be encouraged to create "new home zones" which could contain over 8,000 extra homes each year, by selling of land at a cut price to developers on the condition low cost housing is built on it.
  • The report also suggested that developments could be speeded up by charging council tax on homes that should have been built after a reasonable period for their construction has passed.

Advertisement

Over half of 20 to 34-year-olds 'priced out by 2040'

More than 50% of 20 to 34-year-olds will be "priced out" of the housing market by 2040 unless there is radical change to tackle the short supply of affordable properties, Shelter has warned.

More young people will be unable to afford their own home, the report warned. Credit: PA

In a report compiled with KPMG, the housing charity found despite Government support schemes, the housing market is "increasingly skewed" towards people who are reliant on getting cash help from their parents.

Only one third of first-time buyers in 2011 managed to get on the property ladder without relying on help from their parents, according to Shelter.

The report said: "If nothing is done to increase the supply of homes, house prices will almost certainly continue to rise faster than wages, pricing yet more people out of home ownership."

Property prices likely to double over 10 years

Property prices in England are likely to double to around £446,000 over the next decade unless more is done to tackle the "broken" housing market, a report from charity Shelter warns.

The prices of a home could reach £900,000 by 2034, the report warned. Credit: PA

The research, collected by Shelter and KPMG, found the cost of a home could quadruple in 20 years if there is not a major house building programme, as 100,000 fewer homes than are needed every year are being built.

If current trends continue, the average cost of house is expected to rocket to £900,000 by 2034.

The report, titled Building The Homes We Need, maps out a programme for the next Parliament that it says would help the 2015 Government turn the tide on the shortage by raising house building levels to 250,000 a year by 2021.

Back to top