Failure to build social homes 'shocking, says author of landmark 2004 review

The failure of governments to build enough social homes in the past 20 years is "shocking" and "uneconomical", says the author of a landmark Blair-era report into housing supply.

- Jack Simpson

Kate Barker has expressed her disappointment at the levels of overcrowding and widespread use of temporary housing resulting from a lack of new homes to accommodate some of Britain's poorest citizens.

In 2004, Barker's Treasury-commissioned report was described by the then chancellor, Gordon Brown, as the "most detailed housing review in 50 years", and it was hoped it would provide the blueprint for future governments to tackle the affordability and supply problems.

In the Barker review, the former Bank of England economist called for an additional 17,000-23,000 social rent homes to be built each year, on top of the 24,000 built in the year the review was published.

On the 20th anniversary of the publication of the report, Barker told the Guardian that one of her biggest disappointments was the lack of social rent homes being built, adding she was "shocked" at how low the numbers were.

She said the influence of her review had waned, with a number of recommendations about planning changes and affordability targets reversed or not implemented. Her most ambitious target was for the industry to build 297,000 homes a year. However, she said that target is "as far off today as it was in 2004".

Critics have argued that government funding in recent years has been allocated to other areas, such as affordable rent, where tenants pay about 80% of market rates, and shared ownership, whereby residents buy a share of the home and pay rent on the rest.