SOUTHEND is in the midst of a housing crisis with seven new people arriving for every new home built.

New figures revealed while the price of property and demand are soaring the number of homes being built rises far more slowly.

Official data revealed there were 6.7 new residents in Southend for each of the 1,330 homes built between 2011 and 2017.

Southend Council leader Ian Gilbert has made building more affordable homes a priority.

He said: “I’m not surprised by these figures. We know house building is failing to keep pace with demand and we know that much of the housing that is becoming available is not genuinely affordable to local people.

“We are a tight borough with little free development land, however, as a new administration we are committed to building more social housing for rent to benefit local people who need it.

“We also want to do more to bring empty properties back into use. These are critical priorities for us.”

Mike Gray, from estate agents Dedman Gray added: “In Southend it has always been a challenge to deliver target numbers of new housing due to the lack of vacant plots of land.

“Recent permitted development rights which allow office buildings to be used for residential purposes have helped but the recent increase in house prices puts additional pressure on first time buyers hoping to get on the housing ladder.”

Blend Network’s analysis of the data revealed since 2011 Southend’s population increased by 8,200 making it one of the fastest growing areas in the east of England with one of the slowest new build rates.

At the same time house prices are estimated to have risen 58 per cent.

Deputy leader Ron Woodley has promised to look again at the Queensway 1,600 home plan to see if the amount of social and affordable housing can be increased and also at the 14 acre site the NHS sold to Homes England next to Fossetts Farm to see if some of the 400 planned homes there can help. Homelessness has also increased in the borough.