England's new homes shortfall 'will exceed one million by 2022' - claim

England faces a growing gulf between new build completions and new households being added to the population according to a new survey. 

Analysis of government and Office for National Statistics figures for conveyancing firm Search Acumen looked at the volume of new homes completed in England each year since 1976 compared with birth, death and migration data. 

According to the data, in the 2000s the creation of new households outstripped supply for the first time in three decades – a trend which has accelerated as the population in England has increased.

This drop has been exacerbated by the average UK household size reducing by 16 per cent, from 2.78 persons in 1976 to 2.34 in 2016, meaning more but smaller households putting increasing demand on property supply.

During the June General Election, both Conservatives and Labour pledged to increase new home builds between 2017 and 2022 by 300,000 and 200,000 each year over a five year period respectively.

According to this analysis, only the Tories’ immediate jump to 300,000 homes per year would only address the current shortfall in the short term: however, this target is double the completion rate achieved in 2016.

The research concludes that if current trends continue, England will need an additional 510,000 homes to meet demand. This, on top of the current shortfall means England could have more one million too few homes by 2022.