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At last, it's official. Britain is suffering from an under-supply of homes. We are building fewer homes per head than almost any other country in Europe. The instability of the housing market is a serious problem for the whole economy.

Research by Steve Wilcox, recently published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, reveals startling evidence of the severity of the problem. He has analysed the prices of four- to five-room homes – a home for a family of three – for the last quarter of 2002. He found that there are only 10 districts out of 212 in southern England where a household with an income of £25,000 can afford to buy a home for a family of three. Only Plymouth in the South-west, Hastings and Thanet in the South-east and seven districts in the East of England.

In London, the income needed to buy a home in the lower quartile of house prices is £53,000. In the South-east it is £39,455; for the East of England and the South-west it is £32,000. No wonder there are such squeals of pain from middle-income earners who are being squeezed out.

The shortage of affordable homes to buy puts even more pressure on the demand for rented homes. The number of new homes being built by social landlords has fallen even more than market housing for sale. In the 1970s, more than 150,000 homes a year were built for rent by councils and housing associations; in 2001, only 20,000 were built. Ministers may claim that the social housing programme is being increased – but only by comparison with the appalling record of the recent past.

Too often, the only voices heard in local planning applications are people who oppose consent

The most up-to-date estimates show that England needs 250,000 new homes a year to meet the demand from newly forming households and to tackle the backlog of unmet need. Fewer than 150,000 are being built currently. That 250,000 figure may sound impossible. Yet it is less than the 300,000 built 50 years ago when Harold Macmillan was minister for housing and much less than the 350,000 built in 1968 when Harold Wilson was prime minister.

ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ the homes that are needed is a question of good organisation and political will. The housebuilders should be adopting modern construction techniques that no longer need homes to be put together on site. Planning authorities should be designating sufficient land for all the homes that are needed.

Perhaps most crucially of all, both politicians and residents must stand up to the "nimbyists" – the well-housed residents who want to deny others the benefit of good homes. Too often, the only voices that are heard in local planning applications are the people who oppose consent. We need to ensure that different voices are heard to challenge false arguments and lobby for more homes.