At the most basic level, we have not been building enough homes. This has led to soaring house prices and rising rents.
Nationally, the average house now costs eight times the average income. In some places that number rises well into double digits. As a result, a whole generation can no longer afford to get on the housing ladder.
We desperately need more homes in the right places, where people want to live.
The government has a clear ambition to increase the levels of housebuilding. The aim is to be delivering 300,000 new homes a year on average.
We have made real progress in the last five years but we now need to go much further. In the next five years we will need to make significant changes to the way we deliver homes.
Ultimately, we need to disrupt the housing market. That is why government has established Homes England and we are already striking bold deals and forming new types of innovative partnerships to shake up housing delivery.
It is just the start. This five-year strategic plan sets out our ambitious new mission and the steps we will take with industry to respond to the long-term housing challenges facing this country.
We plan to be bold, creative and think big. We hope the whole of the housing sector – big and small, up and down the country – will join us for the next five years and beyond.
Homes England Strategic Plan