'We've run out of houses'

BRITAIN has run out of homes, according to a report. For the first time, it says, there are more households than homes in the country. A failure to build new property in the South of England is blamed for an acute property shortage.

The result, it is claimed, will be a continuing boom in prices and an impossible situation for young professionals and key workers trying to buy a home.

The report by the House Builders Federation, published on Sunday, says: 'Whilst in 1981 there were 4% more dwellings than households, by 2000 this surplus had fallen to 0.2%. With this trend continuing to worsen, nationwide stocks have now fallen below the number of households.'

The industry is campaigning to force the Government into a major shift in housing and planning policy that could change the face of much of rural Britain. It claims that a planning reform Green Paper issued last year by ministers does little or nothing to address the current crisis.

The organisation argues that while restoring derelict and run-down inner city areas for housing, backed by tax incentives, is a help, it does not go far enough. It wants a relaxation-of planning rules that will allow large swathes of Southern England to be turned into new towns and villages.

The industry report claims: 'Britain last year built just 162,000 homes whilst household growth over the same period was approximately 220,000. A steady but rapid decline in new housing completions has resulted in the lowest number of new homes being completed for 77 years, excluding the war years and their immediate aftermath.'

It complains that developers cannot find councils willing to approve major private or public housing schemes. 'For a number of decades, Britain's investment in housing as a percentage-of its GDP (3.3%) has been the lowest of any major industrialised nation. As a result, Britain's housing stock is the second oldest in the EU,' it says.

Federation spokesman Pierre Williams said: 'A 30-year campaign by the anti-housebuilding lobby coupled with a collapse of public investment in housing has resulted in a society unable to house itself. Far from 'concreting over the countryside', urban expansion takes up just 1% of England's greenfield land area every 50 years.' The Planning Green Paper includes proposals for a land development tax - a system of tariffs imposed by local authorities on developers in exchange for planning permission. The Federation claims this will make many development projects financially unviable.

The Government has cashed in hugely from the property shortage and house price spiral during Labour's tenure. Annual receipts from stamp duty on home sales have soared from £675m to £2.2bn since 1997, largely due to rising house prices. Inheritance tax receipts have also risen by more than 50% as the value of tens of thousands of homes has risen above the £250,000 threshold.