Responding to recommendations from the Planning Inspectors’ Report on the South East Regional Spatial Strategy, which suggests annual housebuilding targets for the region of 32,000 homes, HBF executive chairman Stewart Baseley said the counsequences would be "dire".

Baseley said: “32,000 new homes per year will not go anywhere near meeting the clear housing need in the region.  This is less than required to meet Government household growth projections. There is a clear need for 40,000 new homes per year to meet the accumulated and growing housing shortfall in the South East.

“Without sufficient homes, the social consequences for families in the region will be dire.  With housing affordability already stretched to the limit, these woefully inadequate targets will mean more people than ever will be excluded from home ownership.”

The HBF said it has argued that to consistently provide the full range of housing needed by communities across the region, taking into account the backlog of previously unmet demand, requires a net addition of some 40,000 new homes a year. This, it said, will have profound social and economic consequences for the region over time and threaten the provision of essential public services that all communities depend on.

The HBF asked that the Government take on board these broader implications when considering the recommendations of the Panel, and in forming a view on what housing levels housing to include in the final version of the Plan.