UK · Housing

Housing

House prices, housing supply, and the UK's growing deficit.

House prices

House prices since 1952

Nominal prices hide the role of inflation. The 1980-pound line strips it out — the gap between the two lines is the share of the rise that is pure inflation, the line itself is the real (inflation-adjusted) increase.

UK average house price, 1952–2025

Nominal £Price in 1980 £

£22,677 → £268,000Nominal price increase 1980–2024 (11.8×)

£22,677 → £55,833In 1980 money, houses cost 2.5× more today

3.5× → 8.0×Price-to-earnings ratio, 1980 vs 2024

The housing deficit

England's housebuilding has run below target almost every year since 2006. The dashed line shows the official target (200k pre-2016, 300k from 2016). The gap between the bars and the line is the annual shortfall.

England homes built per year vs target, 2006–2025

Homes builtTarget

6.5 millionMissing homes vs European average (CPS, 2025)

446 vs 542UK homes per 1,000 people vs European average

208,600Homes built in 2024-25 (England)

565,000/yearNeeded to close the gap by 2040

Homes per 1,000 people — UK vs European peers

446

Germany

516

European avg

542

France

560

Research

Population growth vs infrastructure

From the Centre for Policy Studies — How Many Homes Does the UK Need? (2025)

Bar chart from CPS showing population growth versus capital stock growth in England 2011–2021. Population +6.6%, GP premises +4.0%, secondary schools +4.9%, electricity generation capacity −14.2%. — Population growth and capital stock — England's population grew 6.6% between 2011 and 2021, but infrastructure has not kept pace. GP premises grew 4.0%, secondary schools 4.9%, while electricity generation capacity fell 14.2%.

Chart from CPS showing change in population (driven by net migration) and number of dwellings in England, five-year moving average. Net migration bars exceed dwelling completions from the mid-2000s onward. — Change in population and number of dwellings in England, five-year moving average. Net migration (blue bars) has driven population growth well above the rate of new dwelling construction (red line) since the mid-2000s.

Chart from CPS showing actual versus required growth in the housing stock in England, April 2013 to March 2023. Required: 3.4 million homes. Built: 2.1 million. Shortfall: 1.3 million. — Actual and required growth in the housing stock in England, April 2013 – March 2023. Of 3.4 million homes needed, only 2.1 million were built — leaving 1.3 million in unmet demand, predominantly driven by net migration.

Charts reproduced from How Many Homes Does the UK Need? by Ben Hopkinson, Centre for Policy Studies (CPS), July 2025. Original data sources: DLUHC, ONS, CPS analysis. Read the full report →

Then & now

1980 vs 2024 — what your money buys

The headline housing-cost story is real, but it sits alongside a less-noticed shift in tenure: ownership has barely moved, while the social-rented sector has halved and the private-rented sector has doubled.

	1980	2024
Average house price	£22,677	£268,000
In 1980 pounds	£22,677	£55,833
Price-to-earnings ratio	~3.5×	~8.0×
Home ownership rate	~58%	62.5% (2021)
Peak ownership (2003)	—	71% (declined since)
Social rented	~32%	17.1% (2021)
Private rented	~10%	20.3% (2021)

Despite a 2.5× real increase in house prices, the home ownership rate has barely changed since 1980. The main shift has been from social renting (halved from ~32% to 17%) to private renting (doubled from ~10% to 20%). Right to Buy transferred ~2 million council homes to private ownership.

Sources: Nationwide Building Society house price index, ONS CPI, MHCLG housing supply statistics, Centre for Policy Studies (2025), Centre for Cities (2023), Census 2021.

Sources