Children 'will be forced out by homes shortage'

The Chartered Institute of Housing said the findings of its survey was further evidence that communities were being "hollowed out" and families forced to live apart.

The findings, based on a YouGov survey commissioned by the Chartered Institute of Housing, indicate that up to 15 million people in the UK fear that their children will have to move away from the community in which they live in order to find a home.

The survey of 2,307 people was carried out to look at the impact of the recession on attitudes to housing.

The sample included homeowners, private renters and people living in social housing and other types of accommodation.

Spokeswoman Ceri Lewis, of the Chartered Institute of Housing in Yorkshire and Humber, said a significant number of older home-owners remained opposed to more homes being built in their area.

She said: "We built 113,000 homes in England last year, around 100,000 fewer than local communities and experts have said we need in order to meet demand.

"The shortage of homes for sale and rent at affordable levels in almost every community is already hitting younger people hard, the average age of first- time buyers now being 31 with help from mum and dad, and 37 without their help."

The institute said the survey revealed a "small but active minority" of generally older home-owners opposed to new housing in their area.

In Yorkshire and Humberside 18 per cent of those questioned in the survey agreed that they were opposed to new homes being built in their area, higher than the overall figure for the UK of 15 per cent.

In addition, 20 per cent of retired people and 22 per cent of those who owned their home outright nationally said that they were opposed to new housing being built in their area.

The institute says changes to the planning process could lead to a drop in housebuilding if decision making is dominated by those who shout loudest.

Ms Lewis concluded: "The changes proposed could be positive – putting more power in the hands of communities, but the transition and implementation must be managed carefully or else there is a real risk that new housing supply grinds to a halt.

"We must also ensure that local approaches to housing don't mean that the loudest, best organised group dominates decision making.

"Unfortunately, we know some housing may be unpopular locally, but it is still important and necessary. If it was your son or daughter needing somewhere to live, what would you want?"

The chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Housing Sarah Webb, said: "We need to continue to invest in housing and as we make the tough emergency Budget decisions we must remember that the 100,000 homes we aren't building equate to 250,000 jobs and 6 billion in tax receipts back into government.

"If children are to have a chance to live in the neighbourhoods they've grown up in then we must make housing reforms and investment a priority."

Last year the National Housing Federation made a similar prediction that more than 100,000 young people will leave the English countryside over the next three years because of a shortage of affordable housing.

The group said there was a real danger that traditional village life will die out within a generation because of the exodus.