The United Kingdom is now building more homes than in any year but one since the 1960s. It truly is in a housebuilding boom.

However, between 2000 and 2010, the majority of homes being built were small homes, not fit for families to live in. This has created a vast backlog of people in overcrowded homes, caused an affordability crisis for families, and made it harder for people to own homes that suit their needs.

Some of this trend has been reversed in recent years, but not on a consistent basis. Many councils near London – such as Watford, Luton, and Reading – have prioritised the building of one beds: transforming those towns into adjuncts of London and making them far less family-friendly. In each of those towns, 60% of homes built in the last five years have been one-beds or studios.

But this isn’t just a problem for London and home counties. One beds also make up over 60% of new homes in Bournemouth and Leicester, and over 50% in Sheffield, Cardiff, Nottingham, York, Portsmouth, and Southampton.

It has made it more difficult to plan for school places, with school rolls plummeting where family homes have been replaced by smaller properties. Camden has closed state schools – two of them – for the first time in its history this year as a result of this trend.