Edited by Peter Bill
Published 2005 (ISBN 1 902488 86 5) Price £9.95
Although average house prices have risen over the last six years, the numbers of homes being built has not, with official figures showing a shortfall in the number of new homes of 62,000 per year. But as the Barker Review showed, the costs of constraining supply go beyond higher house prices and a lack of market affordability. Inadequate housing means that the UK will become an increasingly expensive place to do business, with high housing costs and reduced labour market mobility. In addition, weak responsiveness of housing supply and the volatile behaviour of our housing market poses risks to economic stability and overall economic welfare. As the Chancellor has said, “most stop-go problems that Britain has suffered in the last fifty years have been led or influenced by the housing market”. Affordable Housing brings together essays by key experts in the field of housing and we hope that their contributions will help to develop the debate on promoting affordable housing.