Housing crisis

The statistics uncovered by this newspaper would be laughable were the situation not so serious. In North Yorkshire, for example, 377 affordable homes were built during the first six months of this financial year. Yet the estimated annual need is for 2,808.

In urban areas, the situation is just as bad, 165 low-cost homes being built in Sheffield during the same six months in defiance of an annual target of 729.

Whatever one’s view of arbitrary targets, the plain fact is that not enough cheap homes are being built. Indeed, the National Housing Federation paints a dismal picture, reminiscent of the 1950s, with the younger generation trapped in overcrowded family homes with all too predictable effects on health, education and wider society.

The onus is on the private sector to provide more social housing, as a condition of building the more lucrative developments, yet firms seem to be seeking every way possible to avoid this responsibility. And they are being aided by too many communities who may believe that social housing is necessary but who continue to insist that it is built somewhere else.

If, as Housing Minister Grant Shapps claims, this is an example of a successful policy, then it is difficult to envisage what failure would look like.