UK’s housing stock ‘offers the worst value for money of any advanced economy’

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The UK’s “expensive, cramped and ageing” housing stock fares poorly compared with other advanced countries, analysis by a think tank suggests. The report said: “If all households in the UK were fully exposed to our housing market, they would have to devote 22% of their spending to housing services, far higher than the OECD average, and the highest level across the developed economies with the solitary exception of Finland.” Adam Corlett, principal economist at the Resolution Foundation, said: “Britain’s housing crisis is likely to be a big topic in the election campaign, as parties debate how to address the problems of high costs, poor quality and low security that face so many households. But by looking at housing costs, floorspace and wider issues of quality, we find that the UK’s expensive, cramped and ageing housing stock offers the worst value for money of any advanced economy. “Britain’s housing crisis is decades in the making, with successive governments failing to build enough new homes and modernise our existing stock.