UK prime minister Theresa May, on a mission to fix the nation’s “broken housing market”, in October promised an extra £2bn to boost state-funded construction of homes.
While many involved in social housing welcomed the money, the consensus was that this alone would not fund anywhere near the number of homes that are needed.
Social housing is most acutely under pressure in cities, where a shortage of land combines with a high demand for homes to push up prices. Across the UK, house prices have grown faster than wages, but the gap between the two has been particularly large in London.
