Britain’s housing stock offers the worst value for money of any advanced economy, while also being smaller and older than that of many countries, according to a thinktank.
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Research by the Resolution Foundation found that housing in the UK is “expensive, cramped and ageing”. After adjusting for quality, the UK spends more on its housing than any other developed economy.
Using OECD data, the thinktank compared Britain’s housing issues to other similar economies. It concluded: “When it comes to housing, UK households are getting an inferior product in terms of both quantity and quality.”
A big part of that is down to cost. Researchers calculated the price of renting all homes, including what owners would pay if they rented at market rate, to compare the prices of housing across different countries.
They said that if all households in the UK were fully exposed to the housing market, they would have to devote 22% of their spending to housing services, versus an OECD average of 17%. It is also the highest level across all developed economies, with the exception of Finland.
It is also a quality issue. While the Resolution Foundation said there was “limited cross-national data” on floor space, homes in England had less average floor space per person than similar countries.
English homes have an average of 38 sqm of floorspace, compared with 66 sqm in the US, 46 sqm in Germany and 43 sqm in France.
The homes are also relatively old. About 38% of homes in Britain were built before 1946, compared with 21% in Italy and 11% in Spain.
That feeds into other economic issues such as higher energy bills and a higher risk of damp, the foundation said.
Adam Corlett, principal economist at the Resolution Foundation, said: “Britain’s housing crisis is likely to be a big topic in the election campaign, as parties debate how to address the problems of high costs, poor quality and low security that face so many households.
“Britain is one of many countries apparently in the midst of a housing crisis, and it can be difficult to separate rhetoric from reality.
“But by looking at housing costs, floor space and wider issues of quality, we find that the UK’s expensive, cramped and ageing housing stock offers the worst value for money of any advanced economy.
“Britain’s housing crisis is decades in the making, with successive governments failing to build enough new homes and modernise our existing stock. That now has to change.”
A Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities spokesperson said: “Housebuilding is a government priority and despite global economic challenges, we remain on track to meet the manifesto commitment of delivering one million homes this parliament, and have introduced reforms to improve the planning system.
“At the same time as increasing the quantity of homes, we are driving up quality, with the number of non-decent homes down by two million since 2010.
“Our landmark Renters (Reform) bill is progressing through parliament and will give tenants more security in their homes, while our £11.5bn investment in the Affordable Homes Programme and £1.2bn Local Authority Housing Fund will help build a new generation of affordable and social housing.”
The thinktank’s new research comes after the Chartered Institute of Housing’s latest UK Housing Review found that building 80,000 to 90,000 social rent homes “can be paid for from the surpluses generated from market development”.
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