The Home Builders Federation (HBF) has called for all political parties to prioritise action to tackle the critical issues identified in the 'Mind the Gap' report.

The report highlights a growing and damaging shortfall in the supply of housing which could approach one million homes by the end of next year.

As the party conference season continues and political attention begins to focus on the forthcoming general election, the severity of the nation's housing supply problem should be an issue that commands a clear policy response from all the parties.

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'Mind the Gap' provides a balanced and authoritative analysis of the scale and reasons for the housing supply crisis and sets out a clear agenda for improvement so that both private and public housing providers can better meet demand and work more effectively together.

Housing output dropped alarmingly in the last year, primarily as a result of the economic downturn and the resultant lack of mortgage availability. This has exacerbated a much longer-term supply shortfall caused by insufficient developable land coming through the planning system.

Stewart Baseley, Executive Chairman of the HBF said: "The Mind the Gap report is an extremely useful analysis of the current position in which the house building industry finds itself as it strives to deliver much needed housing in the current political and economic climate.

"The shortfalls in housing provision that it identifies, and the harmful social and economic repercussions that result clearly demonstrate the need for politicians to be developing strong policies that enable the housing this country clearly needs to be delivered."

(CD/BMcC)