UK housing crisis – what the Eagles have to say

By Eagles Husna Satar, Trevay Anderson, Alisha Gani, Arwin Thamilgnanan, Rayyan Ahmed and Shreya Sangani.

When we were asked to present on the UK housing crisis, we thought we already knew the story: house prices are too high, there aren’t enough homes, and young people can’t get onto the property ladder.

We were only partly right. What surprised us wasn’t just the scale of the crisis, but how many different issues have combined to create it.

We found that the housing crisis isn’t simply about building more homes. It’s about years of under-supply, the decline of social housing, planning barriers, rising development costs, and an affordability gap where wages have failed to keep pace with housing costs. In London, the average private renter now spends around 41% of their income on rent before paying for essentials like food, transport or childcare (Canopy Rental Affordability Index).

Perhaps the most overlooked finding was who is being affected. It’s no longer just the lowest-income households. Teachers, nurses, police officers and other key workers (the people that cities cannot function without) increasingly earn too much to qualify for housing support, yet too little to buy a home where they work. This “missing middle” is being squeezed from both sides.

The housing crisis affects almost every aspect of society, from inequality and economic growth to public services and community wellbeing. It’s a complex issue, but one that deserves informed discussion.

Housing affordability directly impacts the employees, community partners, key workers and local families who make up our vibrant ecosystem. By uniting corporate partners, civic leaders and grassroots groups, ELBA continues to champion place-based solutions, driving collaborative action to support our community.

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