'In short, there are insufficient properties being built' - BSA response to Resolution Foundation analysis of LFS report
Recent analysis of the Labour Force Survey (LFS) by the Resolution Foundation noted that there has been a ‘fall in home ownership across England’. In response, Paul Broadhead, Head of Mortgage Policy at the BSA cites a larger-scale problem across the UK housing market.
The latest findings from the Resolution Foundation’s analysis of the Labour Force Survey(LFS) further highlights the fragile state of housing in the UK, underpinning the need for more affordable housing.
In short, there are insufficient properties being built. An increase in housing demand, pressures on private landlords and a lack of local authority house building means that a new direction is needed, and fast.
First-time buyers can expect to pay up to five times their annual salary for their first property, so it comes as no surprise to learn that raising a deposit continues to be the most common barrier to home ownership.
Everyone needs a home to live in. Due to the long-term deficit in housing supply, affordability is becoming stretched whether people own their homes, privately rent of are social housing tenants. Clearly there is a real need for a coherent housing strategy from the Government; a strategy that improves not only the number of homes, but the types of suppliers too.
This report mentions a sharp decline in home ownership in the UK’s cities; the BSA are citing a larger-scale problem across the UK housing market. It is time financial services as a whole, along with the government, worked together to break down the barriers and solve this increasingly poignant problem.
