Government building jobs fall behind schedule
A new report suggests that the government target of three million new homes by 2020 is unlikely to be reached.
Produced by the Josepth Rowntree Foundation (JRF), the report claims that 240,000 new homes must be built each year to meet the optimistic target. This would be a dramatic increase in the number of commissioned construction jobs, as such a high rate has not been achieved since the early nineties.
Key areas of concern were identified in the report, Housing and Neighbourhoods Monitor. Southern Wales, Norethern Ireland and large parts of Southern and Central England are all suffering from housing shortages. The report also suggests that these areas will not see the increase in housing jobs necessary to reach their targets.
Issues were also raised over the inequality between different areas with the UK. A house in south east or south west England could cost ten times as much as the average household income in other areas.
The findings of the report will be examined further by JRF's Housing Market Taskforce. This body was established in July to explore the causes of instability in the housing market. It will address issues such as supply and demand or the affordability of housing in a series of planned announcements in 2010.
Last year, at a select committee discussing the likelihood of achieving the government target, housing minister Margaret Beckett described the figure of three million new homes as "an ambition actually, rather than a target".
The pledge was made in late 2007, just before the onset of the economic recession. The subsequent downturn in the construction market and the number of housing jobs in the UK has fueled skepticism over the likelihood that the pledge is achievable.