Clever Outdoor Ads Highlight the Stark Reality of Britain's Housing Crisis

Politicians will face the stark reality of Britain’s housing crisis on their daily commute to the Houses of Parliament in an unprecedented campaign backed by the whole housing sector. It highlights how unaffordable many parts of the country's housing market have become and calls on all political parties to commit to ending the housing crisis within a generation.

Homes for Britain posters throughout Westminster tube station in March will highlight the huge costs faced by people around Britain trying to afford a home of their own, showing how much the square footage covered by each poster would cost if it were a home in London, Edinburgh, Bath, York or Oxford.

The problems facing Londoners are particularly stark, with the adverts showing that:

- Floor space the size of an escalator step would cost £6,111 in central London

- A property the size of a tube carriage would cost £618,375 in Westminster

- A property the size of a tube carriage would cost on average £302,182 in London

The Homes for Britain campaign brings together the entire housing world for the first time in the run up to the General Election, all urging the next government to draw up a long-term plan within a year of taking office outlining how they will end the housing crisis.

As MPs head out of Westminster station, directly into the Houses of Parliament, they will be confronted with the message that the housing crisis can be solved, but only if we build more homes that people can afford now. With the advertising taking place just before Parliament rises in April, when MPs head out on the campaign trail for the General Election, the campaign demands that politicians put the housing crisis front and centre of their election priorities.

Later in March, Westminster will play host to the biggest housing rally in a generation, with more than 2,500 people set to gather in Methodist Central Hall to urge all political parties to commit to end the housing crisis. Leaders of the all the main parties to have been invited to speak and the rally has been oversubscribed several times over. 

In 2014, housebuilding in England hovered below the 125,000 mark for the sixth year in a row – the lowest peacetime levels since the 1920s. Across the whole of the UK housing is becoming increasingly unaffordable, with the average home now costing seven times the average salary, compared to a ratio of 4.5 in the 1960s. 

That is why a huge range of organisations, from private developers and homeless charities to architects and housing associations, are making this unprecedented move. With partners contributing towards outdoor and online advertising and providing their own promotional space around the country on hoardings, vans and websites, the Homes for Britain campaign is worth in excess of £1 million.

David Orr, chief executive of the National Housing Federation, said: “For years the housing sector has warned that our country needs to build more homes, yet our voices were drowned out. As a result house prices have soared and we have failed young people and families in the capital and right across the country who are struggling every day with housing costs.

“Enough is enough. We have to get this right. That’s why the entire housing world has come together to call on the next government to commit to ending the housing crisis within a generation - for the sake of the next generation. We are ready and keen to play our part, but we need the next government to meet us halfway by providing real leadership to solve one of the biggest issues facing our country.”