England's social housing waiting lists will take 119 years to clear at the current pace of housebuilding, according to new research by housing charity Shelter.
Despite more than 1.3 million households awaiting social housing, only 12,198 social rent homes were delivered across England last year – meaning around 110 households were competing for every home built.
The charity also found that in 30% of council areas (89) fewer than 10 social homes were delivered in the last two years, and in 60 of those 89 areas not a single social home was built.
Shelter argues a major barrier is £29bn of historic housing debt passed to councils by central government in 2012, which it says is crippling councils' ability to build. The charity, backed by over 100 councils, is calling for this debt to be wiped from council balance sheets.
Social home delivery has fallen by 64% over the past 15 years, while the number of households in temporary accommodation has more than doubled, according to the charity’s research.
Shelter says 90,000 new social homes per year are needed for a decade to end the crisis.
