Only one third of new homes needed in London we built in 2014

The lack of supply is pricing many people out of owning or privately renting a home in their local borough. Experts now warn that 25,100 new affordable homes need to be built in the capital per year yet just 6,260 affordable homes were built last year, only a quarter of what Londoners desperately need.

Despite growing concern about the housing crisis and sustained population growth, housebuilding across England hovers below the 125,000 mark for the sixth year in a row – the lowest peacetime levels since the 1920s. The last ten years saw the birth of 7 million babies, more than were born in the 1950s when England was building an average of 230,000 homes a year.

Octavia are committed to building 3 per cent of new homes each year. We have been meeting this target for many years but the challenges are increasing as Government funding is reduced.

Failure to build enough homes is already pushing prices out of the reach, with an income of £100,000 now needed to afford a typical mortgage in London. With soaring housing costs and not enough affordable homes being built, more government money is going into the pockets of private landlords as working people are forced to rely on housing benefit to help pay their rent.

For more information, please visit: www.housing.org.uk