New homes in North Yorkshire and Devon needed

Housebuilders should devote more of their time to building new houses and flats nationwide and not just on constructing new homes in London, according to research from CB Richard Ellis.

While many new home developers have been trying to plug the housing shortage in the capital, other areas have been somewhat neglected leaving them in desperate need of new homes, particicuarly in some of the towns in the North and South West of the country, the report shows.

The report found that there is a severe shortage of new homes in Harrogate and Skipton in Richmondshire, North Yorkshire, along with Wimslow in Stockport, Dartmouth and Salcombe in Devon, and across Cheshire.

Unsurprisingly, Kensington and Chelsea topped the list of development hotspots, followed by St Albans in Hertfordshire.

Jennet Siebrits, Head of Residential Research, CB Richard Ellis, said: "Attractive development prospects are not limited to London and the South East and there are a number of excellent opportunities in other regions. Harrogate and Skipton, for example, could make attractive development prospects as indicators point to a surge in demand over the next few years.

"There is a chronic shortage of housing across all tenure types in the UK. Developers and property companies are keen to restart building programmes, but continued funding difficulties mean the ability to develop is limited to those with healthy balance sheets."