by Nirvana
Investment for Social Change
Opportunities for Problem Solving
In recent years, housing has become a serious problem in many developed countries and it is increasing drastically in the UK. It is predicted that it is one of the main risks to the country's future. Housing Secretary, James Brokenshire, stated that "the underlying problem of the housing crisis is mainly the lack of new houses which are affordable."
According to reports of the UK Housing Index published by the UK's Office of National Statistics, scarcity of homes is causing prices for the 28 million houses in the UK to grow with the average price of property up 4.2 per cent. The average price of a house has grown from £4,500 in 1970 to £226,800, and it is even higher in cities like London and Oxford. The average house in London, priced at more than £450,000, costs about 15 times the average wage. The public would like to see the government focus more on finding alternative solutions to the problem.
This is not the first time the UK has faced a housing crisis. It happened in 1951 following bombings in urban areas during World War II. The main problem encountered was the increased land and house prices due to the restrictive system of urban planning of the post-war government.
With this growing housing crisis, many youngsters are facing hardships when starting out in life. The most vulnerable are pushed into inferior accommodation, or, in the worst-case scenarios, fall behind entirely and join the ever-growing ranks of the homeless that are an increasing presence in Britain's cities. The opposition is accusing the Government of a failure to sell enough land for affordable and social housing, and they suggested that the Government "has wasted a once-in-a-generation opportunity to alleviate the nation's housing crisis. However, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government responded by saying that it had delivered 222,000 new homes last year, more than in all but one of the last 31 years and the ministry identified enough surplus public sector land for another 160,000 new homes. The Government's development accelerator, Homes England provides expert assistance to get these built more quickly.