England is facing a shortage of at least 600,000 new homes as population growth outpaces house building, according to new analysis from Coventry Building Society.

The deficit has been built up over 10 years of population growth, leading to an ‘urgent need’ to build the right homes in the right locations, the Coventry says.

According to Census information, there were 3.1 million more adults in England in 2021 compared to 2011, with a need for 2 million homes. But only 1.4million houses were built during that time.

In a breakdown of regions, the analysis reveals the area with the biggest shortfall is London, with a new home deficit of 147,352. This is closely followed by the South East (125,832), and the East of England (104,654).

The South West, East Midlands, West Midlands and North West all have housing shortages of between 76,000 and 62,000. There’s a smaller deficit in Yorkshire & The Humber of 14,724, while the only region with a surplus of new homes is the North East, where figures suggest there are 26,985 homes available.

It’s worth pointing out that the estimates given are a minimum as they are only based on first-time buyers and do not factor in growth in single person households as a result of separation or bereavement.

Coventry is now looking to this week’s Budget for any measures which may help address the situation.

 Coventry Building Society head of intermediary relationships, Jonathan Stinton, comments: “Year after year there’s been a consistent shortfall in capacity to build the homes people need, it’s unsurprising there’s a huge deficit. The problem needs to be addressed now to make sure there are enough homes for everyone who wants to buy or rent a place of their own.

“All eyes will be on the chancellor this week to see what he has to say about building new homes, but the most important thing will be what action is taken over the coming years. There’s an urgent need to create homes in the right locations, of the right type to meet demand, as well as updating the UK housing stock to meet the challenge of net zero and climate change.”