Lack of land will lead to housing shortage - Savills
There will be a shortfall of 1.1 million homes in England by 2016 if more sites do not become available for building. That's according to property agent Savills, which has offices in Nottingham and Lincoln.
According to Savills' development land index, the shortage of developable land is due to low levels of planning consents. These are now being granted at little more than half the levels seen in 2006 and 2007.
Across the UK, the Savills index shows that greenfield building land values increased by 2.1 per cent and urban land values by 2.2 per cent in the first three months of 2011, bringing annual growth to 7.7 per cent and 6.7 per cent respectively.
Matthew Jones, residential development director at Savills, said: "We have begun to see a few large, well-capitalised players investing in strategic land with the aim of delivering serviced plots in good locations, but such activity is not enough in relation to market demand."
