The newly formed 2020 Group, made up of the National Housing Federation (NHF), housing charity Shelter, the Local Government Association (LGA) and the Trades Union Congress (TUC), have called on the government to increase funding for housing in an attempt to build the country out of recession, suggesting an injection of an extra £6bn is required.

They argue that there is a need for 100,000 new affordable homes over the next two years and that investment in this area would bring substantial benefits to the economy in terms of saving jobs in the construction industry and the increased amount of taxation that this would bring, enabling continued investment from developers, creating more jobs and increasing apprenticeships which will prevent the loss of key skills in this important area.

The Royal Society of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) echoes these comments, with a RICS spokesperson stating that a failure to act by the government will result in "serious undersupply problems" in the housing market in the near future as the current economic situation is "making it almost impossible for developers to get the loan finance needed to deliver the UK's housing needs for the future”.

The danger of undersupply in the near future is particularly worrying as demand outstripping supply will lead to inflated prices at a time when stability is needed in the housing market. With a mortgage loan
difficult to obtain and reasonably expensive in the current climate, an increase in affordable homes would be most welcome.