England is now the most difficult place in the developed world to find a house, a damning new report reveals.
Analysis from the Home Builders Federation (HBF) also shows properties in England are less affordable and in worse condition than those in most other nations.
The HBF report reveals for the first time the full extent of the difficulties facing people in Britain trying to find somewhere to live.
The report is based on data collated from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), a group of 38 nations, the European Union, and the UK government.
It shows that England has the lowest rate of available properties per member of the population of all OECD nations.
In addition, it also has the highest proportion of inadequate housing in Europe, with 15% of all existing homes not meeting the Decent Homes Standard.
The report also reveals England has more substandard homes than Hungary, Poland and Lithuania.
The UK has some of the oldest housing stock in the developed world with only 7% of British homes built after 2001.
This is far less than other countries like Spain (18.5%) and Portugal (16%).
Today’s report finds the UK has fallen behind our competitors on affordability, condition, and housing age.
Between 2004 and 2021 the UK’s rate of home ownership fell by six percentage points from 71% to 65%.
Over the same period, levels of home ownership grew by nearly 10 percentage points in France and by 15 percentage points in the Netherlands.
The UK remains a long way off delivering the Government’s target of 300,000 new homes per year by the mid-2020s, with only 233,000 new homes completed in 2021-22 and delivery in the first half of 2023 down by 10%.
The average price of a property in England and Wales is also more than eight times the average salary.
The data also shows that one in five people in Britain spend more than 40% of their post-tax income on housing – more than anywhere else in Europe.
Unsurprisingly perhaps given the older housing stock, homes in England are also of much poorer condition than in other developed countries.
HBF executive chairman Stewart Basely says: “It is widely acknowledged that Britain’s housing is in crisis, but this research shows just how badly we are falling behind our international peers.
“Decades of housing undersupply has produced startling consequences for people up and down the country looking for a decent home.”
