Three million new social homes must be built in England over 20 years to solve the “housing crisis”, a report says.
Housing charity Shelter said 1.2 million homes are needed for younger families who cannot afford to buy and “face a lifetime in expensive and insecure private renting”.
Existing schemes like Help to Buy are a less effective use of taxpayers’ money, the report claims.
The government said providing fair social housing was a priority.
It plans to build 250,000 homes by 2022, including homes for social rent. Shelter said the report was partially inspired by the Grenfell Tower fire and the belief “the disaster must mark a turning point in how we talk about social housing”.
Shelter’s report claims 1.3 million homes are needed to house those in greatest need – including homeless people and those living with a disability.
The charity estimates 277,000 people are homeless in England, most commonly because they have lost their privately rented homes.
A lack of readily available social housing has led to a “drop in the numbers of young families moving into ownership, the rise of pensioners in insecure unaffordable private rentals, and the homelessness that scars our society”, the report found.
