A pronounced housing shortage in the UK is expected to keep house prices rising despite the uncertainty created by Brexit and economic headwinds that could result from a Trump presidency.

Housing minister Gavin Barwell told Sky News the government "is set to fail to meet its target to build one million homes by 2020".

Even that target, which was set last year and equates to 200,000 new homes a year, is below the 250,000 to 300,000 new starts each year that most analysts reckon the UK needs to keep up with demand.

Yesterday, the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors said house prices rose at the fastest rate in seven months in October and would continue to rise over the next three months as a result of a "dire" shortage of homes for sale.

According to its report, transaction volumes are down as buyer demand is far outstripping the number of new sales instructions, which is currently at an all-time low.

Barwell said the government is currently building about 170,000 homes every year, which he claimed represented an improvement on the rates it inherited in 2010, which were "their lowest since the 1920s," he said, before adding: "We clearly need to do better."

The target to build a million new homes by the end of this decade was reaffirmed at the Conservative Party Conference last month, when Communities Secretary Sajid Javid announced a £3bn fund to speed up development.

Barwell today announced that in addition to this, the government is setting up six new "housing zones" and would make £18m available to councils to "tackle planning issues".

A white paper will be published later this year setting out additional measures, he added.
Shadow housing minister John Healey said the UK has "built fewer homes" since 2010 "than under any prime minister since the 1920s".

He added that the number of home-owners has fallen by 200,000 and dismissed the new plans as "more hot air".

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