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The UK housing crisis

An investigation into the state of housing in Britain in 2016

1 September 2024

  • Development of brownfield land at Ebbsfleet. Many new homes have been built, but nowhere near as many as originally promised.

    Can new towns give Keir Starmer the answer to Britain’s housing crisis?

    It’s a huge challenge, as shown in Ebbsfleet, where one such new town was launched by George Osborne in 2015, but now only has 4,000 or so of the 15,000 promised homes

22 June 2024

  • Morden Wharf

    ‘Labour can’t have their cake and eat it’: housing crisis will force party into planning rows

    The shadow housing minister’s objection to high-rise flats in his constituency is typical of the dilemmas Keir Starmer, who has pledged to build 1.5m new homes, will face

20 February 2024

  • The London ‘hell’ estate fighting back: murders, fires and broken lifts

    Milford Towers is a social housing estate in Lewisham, south London, slated for demolition and described by its residents as 'hell'. The residents accuse the council of ignoring them and deliberately running it into the ground. There are frequent leaks, mould infestations, fires, stabbings and violence – and perpetually broken lifts.

25 January 2024

  • The housing permacrisis … houses in Stoke-on-Trent in 2022.

    Five of the best books about the UK housing crisis

    From costs to quality, housing can make you despair. Our best five books explain the politics behind the problems – and the solutions

21 November 2023

  • Seven days to find a home: the UK’s impending refugee crisis – video

    As the Home Office attempts to clear its backlog, many people are being evicted from asylum seeker accommodation just seven days after receiving a positive decision on their refugee status.

29 October 2023

  • Aerial photograph of an suburban area showing the layout of streets and parks

    From right to buy to housing crisis: how home ownership killed Britain’s property dream

    Margaret Thatcher’s ‘property-owning democracy’ project drove a mass sell-off of social housing. After more than 40 years of soaring prices and growing inequality, is it time to change course?

5 October 2023

  • A man lays a brick wall wearing a safety vest and helmet

    Delayed consultation on net zero construction ‘a blow to UK homeowners’

    Government’s findings were due in spring, but delays mean housebuilders avoid green costs

22 August 2023

  • The hidden homeless families forced to live in hotels - video

    The Guardian spoke with three families living in a Travelodge hotel about the impact it’s having on their children, health and money.

28 June 2023

  • ‘Housebuilding has collapsed’: Starmer clashes with Sunak over housing at PMQs – video

    Starmer said house building was at its lowest rate since WWII

12 October 2022

  • Liz Truss appears to U-turn over plans to ban no-fault evictions – video

    Prime minister tells MP long-promised plans to stop landlords in England evicting tenants without giving reason will not be scrapped

2 October 2022

  • The £1.2bn luxury development in central London with no social housing – video

    The Old War Office has been one of London's most famous landmarks for more than 100 years. Now, it's being developed into 85 luxury flats and a 120-room Raffles hotel but no affordable housing

7 January 2020

  • Can millennials get on the housing ladder without help? – video

    In the UK, only one in four middle-income millennials are on the housing ladder. Twenty years ago, 65% of this group owned homes. What's changed? And is it possible to buy a house without help? We explore the numbers

15 November 2017

  • Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett

    Want to buy your own home? Just stop eating

    Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett
    Those arguing that young people’s costly habits prevent them getting on the housing ladder don’t go far enough, says Guardian columnist Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett

25 May 2016

  • The Tower in London

    Housing crisis: affordable homes vanish as developers outmanoeuvre councils

    Industry analysis shows that local authorities routinely miss affordable housing targets, but experts warn that Sadiq Khan’s pledge to boost levels could stall development entirely

30 April 2016

  • Vienna housing

    The experiments providing homes around the world

    From co-ops to micro-building to self-builds, a variety of schemes are being used to tackle the housing crisis, both here and overseas
  • Council housing in the new town of Hemel Hempstead, 1954.

    Housing in crisis: council homes were the answer in 1950. They still are

    The only way to redress the shortfall in the number of UK homes is a huge programme of public building

    • Generation rent: can your landlord be your friend?

    • UK housing crisis: four in 10 renters fear they will never own a home

    • UK housing crisis: poll reveals city v country split on who to blame

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