The path to growth

• The government has committed to economic growth as its top political priority and it has placed housing delivery at the heart of its growth strategy.

• Economic growth is hard to achieve without significant population growth, particularly in the working age population, so new figures released by the ONS are encouraging.

• The population of England and Wales increased by nearly 610,000 people over the past year, to a total of 60.9 million. That is the most significant growth in 75 years and boosts the working age population (aged 20 to 65) at a time when other European nations are experiencing a decline.

• The UK population is projected to reach 77 million by 2046 and that will intensify the need for housing to cater for the growing number of people. Building new homes is the key to solving the nation's housing crisis and expected to drive economic growth too. Source: Dataloft by PriceHubble, ONS, Centre for Cities