Why we need a long-term plan for housing [EXPIRED]

New research: The housing crisis: what will happen if we don't act?

What will happen if we don’t fix the housing crisis?

In June 2023, we published our report Why we need a long-term plan for housing, calling for whoever forms the next government to commit to an ambitious, long-term plan to fix the housing crisis. As part of this work, we explored what our society could look like if we worked together to fix the housing crisis.

But we know this future is only achievable if we take action. That’s why we’ve commissioned research with Pragmatix Advisory to investigate what will happen if we allow things to continue as they are. With a long-term plan, we could end the housing crisis. Without one, research shows that things will get worse.

• The number of children living in temporary accommodation has almost doubled in the last 10 years. If we allow things to continue as they are, we could see that number rise more than double (from 130,000 to 310,000) over the next two decades. That means 310, 000 children living in unsuitable temporary housing, without space for activities like playing and doing their homework.
• By 2035, the number of people over the age of 60 in England will reach 29% of the entire population. Also, the number of households headed by someone 65 and above will likely more than treble by the late 2040s.
• If we allow things to continue as they are, without putting a long-term plan in place for housing, then by 2045, around 5.7 million households could be spending a third of their income on housing expenses. This is nearly twice the current number of people (3.1 million) facing this situation.
• The demand for homes often overtakes the supply of new homes, and the cost of construction has increased in the last few years. These factors, coupled with household costs rising across the board, mean that homelessness will rise across the country, doubling by 2045.
• In 2020 there were 22 million homes with fossil fuel heating systems, without a long-term plan this could rise to 25 million by 2045.

Pledge your support

We want members to get involved and start the conversation online. Pledge your support for our long-term for housing campaign online by downloading the social media graphics below to share on Twitter and LinkedIn.