Barker Review 10 years on

A decade on from seminal report, shortage equal to no. of homes in Birmingham

Exactly a decade on from the seminal Barker Review of Housing Supply that warned that at least 210,000 private homes a year were needed in England to avert a housing crisis, the scale of the housing shortage has become apparent.

In the 10 years since the warning was made, in a report for the then Labour Government, an average of just 115,000 homes a year have been built, meaning the country is now 1 million homes short of what was needed to adequately  house its population and prevent a worsening affordability crisis.