Population Growth In UK: Half A Million New Homes Needed Each Year

Population Growth In UK: Half A Million New Homes Needed Each Year

Population growth in the UK could mean that around 500,000 new homes will need to be built in England each year, according to latest estimates.

Concerns were heightened last month when the Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggested that the UK population could hit 70 million by the middle of 2026 – a decade sooner than previously projected in 2022, rising to 74 million by 2036.

Analysis by the Financial Times estimates that this will require 421,000 new homes to be built in England alone, every year between 2023 and 2036. However, with current levels of net migration factored in, it is thought that the number could be up to 529,000 new homes per year.

These latest projections are well in excess of the UK government’s current target of building 300,000 homes per year, which critics already argue is unlikely to be hit soon. The figure reported for 2022-23 was 240,000.

The Financial Times figures were produced using the methodology in a 2018 report by Heriot-Watt University, commissioned by the National Housing Federation and homelessness charity Crisis. It was updated with the latest ONS population data, along with projections on net migration from Oxford university’s Migration Observatory.

Critics claim these figures show that the UK government needs to take swift action if it is to prevent a serious housing crisis.

At the time of writing, the population of the United Kingdom sits at approximately 76.883 million, a 15.3 per cent increase since 2000.

Submitted by Friends of Retha


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