Federations come together to ease regional housing crisis.

The HBF and CBI have joined forces with the Chartered Institute of Housing and the National Housing Federation to create a new initiative to tackle the housing crisis in the south-west of England.

The South West Housing Initiative has outlined several key recommendations: better house-building targets; more certainty in the planning process and an increase in government investment in the region.

With house prices in the region outstripping household earnings five-fold, many people are being squeezed out of the market. Homelessness is also on the rise, with a 36% increase in the number of people living in temporary accommodation between 1999 and 2003.

Rob Ashmead, chief executive of the HBF, said: “ Increasing housing supply to bring it into balance with demand is the only way to improve general levels of affordability and to avoid the impending housing crisis in the South-west. The industry looks forward to working with local stakeholders and planning authorities to take action that will have real results for the region.”