London housing under more pressure as population estimates rocket

The projections were revised to take account of the 2001 census. The ODPM now estimates that 46,400 households will be created each year in the capital instead of 25,800.

The changes for the other English regions are less pronounced, with the next highest increase of 4000 to 14,400 forecast for in the West Midlands.

The North-east is the only region expected to see a reduction, from 3400 to 3000.

The leap in London households will place extra pressure on mayor Ken Livingstone’s London Plan, which proposes building 30,000 new homes each year.

This was designed to cater for the increase in the number of new households remaining the same for the next 20 years.

Across the country there will be 39,000 more new households formed each year than was previously thought, up from the estimate of 150,000, which was based on 1996 statistics.

An ODPM spokesman admitted: “These figures show an increasingly high demand for housing in already high-pressure areas. Further increases in house prices are inevitable.”

However, he added that the figures were still at an interim stage and yet to finalised. The final figures will be published next year.

A spokesman for the Greater London Authority said: “We constantly review figures that underpin the London Plan and will take account of the ODPM’s figures when we review the plan in 2005.”