UK facing its biggest housing shortfall on record with backlog of 4m homes, research shows

England needs to build four million new homes to deal with an escalating crisis, according to research, prompting calls for the government to dramatically increase funding and set more ambitious targets.

Groundbreaking research by Heriot-Watt University says England has a backlog of 3.91 million homes, meaning 340,000 new homes need to be built each year until 2031.

This figure is significantly higher than the government’s current target of 300,000 homes annually.

The findings comes as rough sleeping has risen by 169 per cent since 2010, while the number of households in temporary accommodation is on track to reach 100,000 by 2020 unless the government takes steps to deliver more private, intermediate and social housing.

Major homelessness charities are now calling on the government to use its upcoming social housing green paper to urgently redress the shocking shortfall in affordable housing, by committing to funding new homes and overhauling the way it sells land.

Catherine Ryder, head of policy at the National Housing Federation, which represents housing associations, told The Independent the findings demonstrated a “real emergency” in the already worrying housing crisis.

“The government simply must realise the scale of the problem, and commit to funding new affordable housing at the level we need, as well as and overhauling the way it sells land,” she said.

David Orr, the federation’s chief executive, added: “This research shows the epic scale of the housing crisis in England.”

The charities, which also include Crisis and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said a pledge by the prime minister to invest £2bn in affordable housing would deliver a mere 10 per cent of the social rented homes needed each year.

They urged the government to make ambitious reforms to deliver more homes, saying this must include prioritising the sale of public land for social housing, as well as exploring ways to reduce the cost of private land.

Jon Sparkes, chief executive of Crisis, said the findings were “stark and shocking”, adding: “Right now across England, councils are desperately struggling to find homeless people somewhere to live.

“This means thousands of people are ending up trapped in B&Bs and hostels or on the streets, exposed to danger every night. It also means that far too many people are living on a knife edge, in danger of losing their homes because of sky-high housing costs.”

The research suggests that around 40 per cent of all new homes built every year must be affordable homes – in 2016-17, only around 23 per cent of the total built fell into that category. Affordable homes should not cost more than 80 per cent of average rent in a given area.

The annual Homelessness Monitor shows that 70 per cent of local authorities in England are struggling to find any stable housing for homeless people in their area, while a striking 89 per cent reported difficulties in finding private rented accommodation.

Campbell Robb, chief executive of the independent Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said: “It is unacceptable that currently in our society millions of people are locked out of being able to afford a decent and secure home.

“For years our failure to deliver enough affordable housing in England has led to rising levels of poverty and homelessness across our country. Now is the time to redesign our housing market so that it works for everyone – no matter who they are or where they come from.

“That’s why it is crucial the government seizes the opportunity offered by the social housing green paper to deliver the genuinely affordable homes we desperately need.”

The government said the green paper, announced in September after the devastating fire at Grenfell Tower, would bring about a “fundamental rethink” of social housing in the UK.

Terrie Alafat, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Housing, said the findings highlighted the chronic housing shortage the UK faces, saying: “It is clear that only a bold and ambitious plan to solve the housing crisis will prevent a decent, genuinely affordable home being out of reach for our children and their children.

“What the report also shows is that this isn’t just a numbers game. We have to make sure we build the right homes in the right places, and that people can afford them. For most people social rented housing is the only truly affordable option and the government must support the building of many more of these crucial homes.”

Mr Alafat also called on the government to urgently address the imbalance in its housing budget, which currently sees it spend just 21 per cent of total housing funding on affordable housing.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “This government is committed to building a housing market fit for the future, with the homes our communities need. We have a comprehensive plan to deliver this, including reforming planning rules and investing £9bn in affordable homes.

“We are also allowing councils to borrow more and providing them with increased certainty over rents so they can build more homes.”