Britain’s Housing Crisis

The prime minister, Theresa May bemoaned the state of the housing sector in a speech earlier this year. She said the national housing crisis was one of the biggest barriers to social mobility in Britain today. She acknowledged that property prices have put home ownership out of reach for millions of people. And she pointed the finger at the failure to build enough of the right homes, as she put it, in the right places. But is the failure to build at the core of the problem? Or are other factors at play? Would excluding foreign ownership make a difference, or making more land available on which to build? And are we too obsessed with the idea of owning our own house? This week in The Briefing Room we ask why we can't fix the housing crisis? CONTRIBUTORS Dan Tomlinson, research analyst at The Resolution Foundation think tank Colin Peacock, Radio New Zealand Christine Whitehead, Professor of Housing at the London School of Economics Polly Neate, chief executive of the housing charity Shelter Andrew Whitaker of the Home Builders Federation.