By Neil Merrick
Rising unemployment and repossessions will take waiting lists for social housing to a record high of almost 2 million by 2011, according to an National Housing Federation study.
More than 200,000 families are likely to join waiting lists over the next two years, it says, leading to an overall total of 1.97 million.
Waiting lists grew by 55% over the past five years. Last year, 1.77 million households were waiting for property from a council or housing association.
The federation believes that 80,000 of the extra households needing homes by 2011 will be a direct result of the recession. The other 120,000 will join waiting lists because of the continuing shortage of affordable housing.
The federation, which has predicted a 50% slump in house building over the next 12 months, says the growth in demand for social housing will be more rapid than during the recession of the early 1990s.
‘The housing crisis is so great that, unless dramatic action is taken, it may take decades for the nation to recover,’ said Ruth Davison, a director at the NHF. ‘We simply have not produced the number of homes we so desperately need.’
