Housing Futures our homes and communities

The housing system is intrinsically linked to almost every major area of government policy fromthe economy and taxation to the environment and education. It is driven by a huge range offactors from the behaviour of individuals to global economic forces. It is also in most casesthe greatest asset and debt held by a household. There is a wide variation in the amount ofmoney people spend on their housing ranging from those who own their property outright to anestimated one million households who spend more than two thirds of their income on housingcosts. And yet despite its importance economically, socially and environmentally the currenthousing system is in crisis; namely housing supply is failing to meet demand and the currentstock is unsuitable without major adaption to meet future needs.[...]