One in seven feel Britain needs more homes, HBF survey shows

A new poll published today (Wednesday) for the House Builders Federation (HBF) has revealed that 72% of people feel that Britain needs more homes.

Although most would prefer that new homes were not built on their own street, 71% of respondents would have no objections to building more homes in their town or village and 55% think that their council should actively encourage more house building in their area.

The results of the poll, conducted by YouGov for the HBF, also reveal that most people are not opposed to the sensible development of greenfield land. Two thirds of people agree that "new homes should be built on greenfield sites if they are needed locally, no brownfield sites are available and care is taken to preserve the environment as far as possible".

 
HBF chief executive Rob Ashmead said: "The public clearly recognises that we face a serious housing problem. More importantly, people want to address it - even when this means building new homes in their own area.

"We need to move away from whether Britain needs more homes to how we provide them - in a rational, responsible and sustainable way that takes on board all the concerns that increased house building inevitably raises."

The poll is released on the day of the HBF conference which focuses on Kate Barker's "Review of Housing Supply".