New research launched by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) shows the Government is unlikely to meet its target of three million new homes by 2020. In order to reach this number, the Government has a target to build 240,000 homes every year - a rate not achieved at any point since the early 1990s.
The Housing and Neighbourhoods Monitor, produced for the JRF by a team of researchers from Manchester University, Glasgow University and Ulster University, analyses key housing and neighbourhood trends across the UK. The report highlights the following areas of concern:
Complementing the report, the JRF has established a free website at www.hnm.org.uk that brings together a wide range of housing and neighbourhood trends for the whole of the UK for the first time.
The site provides detailed Google Maps and a series of charts, enabling users to examine a wide range of information for their locality, such as housing supply, affordability, new build rates, educational attainment and economic activity.
Cecilia Wong, Professor at University of Manchester and Project Manager said today:
"The new website provides a one-stop-shop of key information on housing and neighbourhood trends. It demonstrates clearly the varying degrees of inequality between different parts of the UK, in terms of housing and neighbourhood characteristics.
"It highlights how far policy goals are actually being achieved in practice and helps to pinpoint the key challenges for each of the four nations.
The website could be an invaluable resource for local authority housing and planning officers, who want to compare neighbourhoods, understand the trends on housing supply, affordability and other dynamics in their area. It can support future planning and will help government develop better policies for the future.
Many of the issues highlighted by the Housing and Neighbourhood Monitor such as supply and demand and housing affordability are being examined in more depth by JRF's Housing Market Taskforce. Established in July to look into the root causes of instability in the housing market, it will provide a series of recommendations in late 2010.
London boroughs could be given more influence over affordable housing investment, in return for commitments on the delivery of affordable housing, the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, announced.
A new pilot scheme - approved by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) London Board chaired by the Mayor - has been set up to explore what immediate steps can be taken to give London councils greater control and flexibility over housing decisions.
The pilot will also explore a framework which could see boroughs agree to an indicative budget for housing investment from 2011 as part of the next public funding round.
Croydon, Westminster and Hackney councils have been invited to take part in the pilot, starting from April 2010. They represent a wide selection of the housing challenges in the Capital, from over-crowding to major estate regeneration. They have also all developed robust and ambitious investment plans working with the HCA.
The boroughs will spend the year-long pilot working with a steering group, chaired by the Mayor's Housing Advisor Richard Blakeway and made up of representatives from several key agencies, including London Councils, HCA, Housing Associations and Communities and Local Government.
The steering group will be looking at what steps would be needed to create a London-wide delegated delivery programme. Every borough will potentially be offered the opportunity to negotiate a delegated contract for the 2011 investment round.
The pilot is a key part of the ongoing commitment outlined in the Mayor's draft London Housing Strategy- to work in partnership with boroughs to deliver more affordable housing in the capital.