Britain's Housing Crisis Is Hitting New Depths

Crisis is a charity known for supporting the homeless at Christmas, and with homelessness in England spiraling to an unconscionable hundreds of thousands of people, its name has never been more apt.

It’s hard for some of us to get a sense of Britain’s severe housing shortage when surveying the screeds of opulent homes up for sale on property websites. According to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ Residential Market Survey, buyer demand softened 8 points in November to minus 32% — showing the percentage of agents reporting a decrease in buyer interest versus an increase — and sales have stalled. Moreover, the government’s own models suggest a new council tax surcharge on properties worth more than £2 million ($2.7 million) will knock another 2.5% off valuations.