London facing homes shortage

People are flocking back to the capital. The population of London, recently described in a number of guide books as "The Happening City" is booming again.

A rise in the number of European nationals moving to London, with a fall in the number of people leaving the city, has upset planners' forecast for the next 20 years. The corollary of this is that there has been a severe underestimation of the number of new homes that will be needed for the city, according to a survey by Dr Martin Mogridge and Professor John Parr of Glasgow University.

Their report, A Study for London Transport Planning, suggests there will be a demand for up to 436,000 new homes by 2016 - not the 300,000 forecast by the Department of Environment.

Dr Mogridge said the DoE's own research suggests that immigration would continue to rise until 2011, before falling again. He said that while controls have tightened to stem the flow of Commonwealth immigrants, European nationals are now freer than ever to come to Britain. Kim Sengupta