Public: housing in crisis but Government can do something

Three-quarters of Britons think that there is a national housing crisis according to new research by Ipsos for the Chartered Institute of Housing’s annual conference.

Undertaken before the Grenfell tragedy, the survey found 82% agree that “everyone should have a right to be able to live in a decent quality home whether or not they own it”. Only 5% disagree.

The survey also found:

• The public largely reject the notion that there is “isn’t much that British Governments can do to solve country’s housing problems”; more disagree than agree by a margin of 5:1.
• They are equally clear that that buying/renting is harder than it was for their parents’ generation, and that it will be harder for today’s children; these sentiments have hardened since the previous Ipsos/CIH survey in 2014.
• A majority, 52%, agree that there is not enough affordable housing to buy/rent locally, higher than the 41% who agree that there is a local housing crisis.
• Just under a quarter, 23%, say they might have to leave the local area because of high housing costs.
• 65% consider the housing market to be unfair (10% don’t).
• Confidence that the Government has the right policies to deal with the country’s housing problems remains low; 18% have a great deal/fair amount of confidence (little changed on the 20% in 2014).

Private renters in particular are currently feeling the effects of the high cost of housing; 44% agree they might have to leave their local area in the future because the cost of housing is too high.

Half (52%) are very or fairly concerned about being able to pay the rent at the moment, 56% say concerns about their housing costs are causing them a great deal or a fair amount of stress. Three-quarters, 76%, think the housing market is unfair.

Technical information

Ipsos conducted a survey for the Chartered Institute of Housing involving 2,195 adults aged 16-75 online. The survey was conducted between 9-13 June 2017. Data are weighted to the known population profile.