UK Housing Review Warns of Inability to Meet Post-Covid Housing Needs

Posted by Ideal Modular Homes on 28th October 2020 -

A major review has warned that the country won’t be able to meet housing needs following the pandemic.  The UK Housing Review’s Autumn Briefing Paper, published by the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH), also says that it will be our young households that will suffer the most despite reforms and measures to try and help first-time buyers.

The argument is that housing costs (rents and mortgages) are steadily increasing while incomes aren’t. While it can be argued that mortgages are generally cheaper than renting, people are struggling to afford to live and save the amount of money they need for a deposit to actually buy a house. There is also a lack of available, affordable housing too. 

While the pandemic may have caused a shortfall with projects halted and plans to build more homes taking longer, people are also losing their jobs. While they’re in the rented sector, a large proportion of the country are facing reduced earnings and/or unemployment making saving up for a deposit and paying rent a lot more difficult than it was pre-covid. 

Another report earlier in the year made it clear that the pandemic will highlight a significant need for more homes that are good quality and genuinely affordable, and the analysis in this latest report states just that. Highlighting the importance of what makes a home a home, the pandemic has also shown how many people don’t have somewhere safe and secure and are suffering as a result. 

The government has been very vocal of late with major overhauls of their archaic planning system, plans to ‘build back better’ and a series of new targets to hit, including 75,000 modular homes to be built per year by 2030 and net zero by 2050, but are they achievable? There isn’t a solid plan that addresses the scale of housing needs that have emerged. We think they can be achievable, as long as there is significant investment and a push on innovation to address the shortfall quickly.  

More investment is needed if they want housing providers to help reach their carbon targets and if they want to meet the rising housing demand at the same time, without compromising on quality. The focus for the next few months needs to be on proper investment for new, affordable housing, putting pressure on housing providers to build the homes that we need and how we can build back greener and better.