Released on = March 24, 2007, 5:22 am

Press Release Author = Jimwatson

Industry = Real Estate

Press Release Summary = Government figures released this week indicate that the
number of households in the UK is set to grow by around 220,000 a year between now
and 2027. This is a slight increase on previous estimates of 209,000, although in
real terms the difference is negligible as the end effect will be the same: a
further tightening of the housing market and less supply for buyers.

Press Release Body = Government figures released this week indicate that the number
of households in the UK is set to grow by around 220,000 a year between now and
2027. This is a slight increase on previous estimates of 209,000, although in real
terms the difference is negligible as the end effect will be the same: a further
tightening of the housing market and less supply for buyers.

The same statistics show that around 160,000 new homes were built in the UK last
year, leaving a shortfall of approximately 60,000. Should build and demand rates
continue at the same ratio, that would leave a shortfall of about one million
properties in 20 years time. Graeme Brown, director of communications at Shelter,
told 24dash.com that this problem has been in the pipeline for \"decades\" and said
there is \"an urgent need to build more homes\"

Housing Minister Yvette Cooper agrees and says the figures \"show why it\'s right to
build more homes\". With people living longer and a vast increase in people living
alone, she says \"if we don\'t build more homes, we will see house prices rising even
higher, with young people struggling to afford a home of their own\".

One solution that has been put forward is to develop more schemes to help tenants
gain a share in their homes but without forcing them down the owner-occupation
route. The deputy head of the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) recently wrote to
Ruth Kelly, secretary of state for communities and local government, to push the
idea - one that may interest landlords too.

In the letter, CIH deputy chief executive Sarah Webb says she wants the government
to consider other ways of helping people to gain an equitable stake in the rising
value of their homes. She believes that people who pay rent are making a
significant contribution towards paying off the historic debt in their homes in the
same way that mortgagees do.

Ms Webb says her organisation has been \"championing equity stakes for a number of
years now\" as an alternative approach to the housing issue that makes \"a valuable
wider contribution towards supporting socio-economic mobility\". These schemes would
not only enable lower income families to save towards owner occupation, they would
also encourage them to stick to the terms of their tenancy agreements, she added.
From a buy-to-let investor\'s point of view, such schemes may be useful for procuring
reliable and secure tenants who will be moved to take good care of the property
through having a stake in it.

Web Site = http://www.assetz.co.uk/

Contact Details = Assetz House, Newby Road, Stockport, Cheshire, SK7 5DA, 0845 400
7000, linkexchangeseo@gmail.com