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Issue Description
The global financial crisis has had a big impact on the housing market, affecting both homeowners and those trying to get on the property ladder. What options are available to people hoping to buy their own home? How is the current shortage of social housing being tackled? What impact does housing have on the environment? This book looks at housing problems and solutions.
The information comes from a variety of sources, including government reports and statistics, newspapers and magazine articles, surveys and polls, academic research and literature from charities and lobby groups; articles have been tailored to an 11 to 14 age group. Additionally, at the end of each chapter are two pages of activities relating to the articles and issues raised in that chapter.
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Key Facts
- More homes are needed to meet the rising demands of a population that is both increasing and ageing. The Government has set a target to provide three million more homes in England by 2020 which will include more affordable homes to rent or buy. (page 1)
- Due to building standards introduced in 2006, new homes are now 40% more energy efficient than new homes built at the beginning of the decade. (page 3)
- Almost seven in ten first-time buyers in the UK have given up hope of ever owning their own home, according to new research published by PropertyLive.co.uk. (page 5)
- One in ten people will be on a social housing waiting list by 2020, the National Housing Federation has warned. (page 8)
- Statistics from Shelter show that 1.6 million children in Britain live in housing that is overcrowded, temporary, or rundown. (page 9)
- Eco-towns are proposed new communities to provide between 5,000 and 15,000 new homes. As well as being affordable, well-designed, well-built and ‘green’, they will be well linked to existing towns and have facilities such as schools, health centres, parks and allotments. (page 22)
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Table of Contents
Chapter One: Housing Problems
About housing, Household projections, Home building, Rural residents face 280-year wait for a home, Brits have given up hope of ever owning a home, Young people live with parents, New homes are too small, Social housing waiting lists growing, Children in overcrowded housing, Green Belt, Development on greenfield sites, Activities.
Chapter Two: Housing Solutions
Young people and housing, Low-cost home ownership, Reform the housing system, Generation of renters, Housing poverty, An introduction to eco-towns, Eco-towns glossary, Sustainable housing, Activities.