In the News

3 million new social homes needed over 20 years

Geoff Riley

8th January 2019

Share this content:

A commitment to increasing social house-building could have significant effects on both the demand and supply-side of the economy. Housing affordability is one of the defining issues of the age. Ministers are being urged to back a huge UK social housebuilding programme. Investment in housing infrastructure is an important alternative to interventions such as rent controls which have also been suggested to address chronic problems of housing affordability which impact the geographical mobility of labour.

England 'needs millions of homes to solve housing crisis' https://t.co/Nmq5HRLAKz pic.twitter.com/rcb7kAcOyz
— BBC London (@BBCLondonNews) January 8, 2019

Lots of interesting stuff in @Shelter's big new social housing report - will tweet the highlights. But striking that it goes out of its way to play down fact that we're in Europe's top three in terms of social housing stock (and bottom five in terms of ownership). See here: pic.twitter.com/i57q9xcYMk
— Robert Colvile (@rcolvile) January 8, 2019

The Government should spend £214 billion on building three million new homes to solve the social housing crisis, a new report recommends https://t.co/G3N0tSP77D pic.twitter.com/W20yiZFJBM
— ITV News (@itvnews) January 8, 2019

See also: What is affordable housing (UK Parliament research briefing)

Share this content:

Geoff Riley

Geoff Riley FRSA has been teaching Economics for nearly forty years. He has over twenty years experience as Head of Economics at leading schools. He writes extensively and is a contributor and presenter on CPD and Revision conferences in the UK and overseas.

@tutor2uGeoff

In the News Teaching Activity – What policies help raise the birth rate in an economy? (June 2026)

25th June 2026

In the News Teaching Activity – How has the vote to Brexit 10 years ago affected the economy? (June 2026)

15th June 2026

In the News Teaching Activity – Does the childcare industry need regulating to reduce hidden costs to parents? (June 2026)

4th June 2026

Explore

More for students

Teaching Economics

3 million new social homes needed over 20 years

Geoff Riley

You might also like

In the News Teaching Activity – What policies help raise the birth rate in an economy? (June 2026)

In the News Teaching Activity – How has the vote to Brexit 10 years ago affected the economy? (June 2026)

In the News Teaching Activity – Does the childcare industry need regulating to reduce hidden costs to parents? (June 2026)

In the News Teaching Activity – Can creativity turn everyday skills into valuable economic assets? (June 2026)

Micro Case Study: London's Housing Market

In the News Teaching Activity – Why is Scotland planning to introduce rent controls? (Feb 2026)

In the News Teaching Activity – Is the UK economy becoming more productive? (Feb 2026)

In the News Teaching Activity – How does falling cement output affect the UK economy? (Sept 2025)

Explore

More for students

Subjects

Quick links

Student events & courses

Teaching Economics

3 million new social homes needed over 20 years

Geoff Riley

You might also like