South-east housing associations warn of major shortfall of affordable homes

The report says that England needs between 300,000 and 340,000 new homes to be built each year, about half of them affordable. However, between 2012 and 2022, a decline in housebuilding meant there was a shortfall of around one million homes. Of these, 830,000 social rent homes should have been built, to meet growing demand.

The south-east has been the hardest hit by the lack of new homes. In the worst-case scenario for Chichester, the research found the district could face a shortage of 974 homes over the next decade, over 500 of them affordable.

Hyde are working in partnership with Chichester District Council to provide much needed low-cost homes for local people. They have agreed a five-year investment and development plan to build hundreds of new homes on small sites of mostly brownfield land. This includes 250 affordable homes in Yapton, 92 for social rent and the remaining 158 homes for shared ownership.

Andy Hulme, Chief Executive at the Hyde Group, said: “Millions of people across the nation are putting their lives on hold because they are trapped by our national housing crisis which we’ve failed to tackle for decades.

“Setting out a clear plan to build more and invest in affordable and social housing is clearly the right thing to do.

“We need to be building about 90,000 more social rent homes every year to meet existing need. But, to get anywhere near this, we need more public investment, which will give the sector confidence and unlock an even larger amount of private investment.

“Government can play a big role without a big price tag. By giving housing providers more certainty on rents and longer funding programmes, investment in homes and building of affordable homes will grow.

“At Hyde, we're investing more in our residents' homes, increasing investment by a third and will spend over £1.2bn in the next five years, tackling issues like damp and mould and providing better services and support. We’re also continuing to build affordable homes, but it’s very hard, given high inflation and borrowing costs in recent years.

“It’s time political parties followed-up on what they know is right. While we are making long-term investment to deliver more and better homes, we could do more with the right support.

“Government must play its part and recognise housing associations and councils can’t solve the country’s housing crisis alone. Now is the time for political parties to provide long-term certainty, increase investment in social housing and support innovative funding solutions.”