Housing crisis is harming productivity, nearly half of UK businesses warn
Britain’s housing shortage is having a harmful impact on the country’s productivity, nearly one in two businesses have warned.
Some 43 per cent of UK companies with over 1,000 employees said that housing issues are having a negative effect on their business’ productivity, according to new findings released by the Centre for Social Justice.
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The think tank’s report has also revealed that 48 per cent believe that housing issues are having an adverse effect on the wellbeing of their staff.
Andy Cook, boss of the CSJ, said: “Businesses are feeling the pressure of the housing crisis too, both in terms of the hit to productivity and when recruiting staff. But some are leading the way in ensuring that those most in need of the benefits of a job are housed appropriately.”
Half of the employers said housing issues are having an adverse effect on recruiting and retaining staff.
“The barriers to accessing permanent accommodation can be particularly damaging to those already struggling to maintain employment while living in temporary accommodation,” the CSJ added.
The report comes days after Boris Johnson appointed Esther McVey as the UK’s new housing minister, as she became the ninth person to hold the position in just nine years.
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Earlier this month an influential group of MPs hit out at the government, accusing it of prolonging the national housing crisis by not selling enough land for affordable and social housing.
The Public Accounts Committee said the UK would miss its 2020 target of public land sales “by a wide margin”.
The government said it delivered 222,000 new homes last year, more than “in all but one of the last 31 years”.