<b></b>The long-running industry view that Britain is heading for a massive housing shortage if present build rates continue is finally starting to seep into the national consciousness.<br>Newspapers as politically diverse as<i> The Guardian, The Express</i> and <i>The Sunday Times</i> have recognised the growing problem being generated by the shortfall of housing supply and demand.<p></p><p>The point has been rammed home by the publication of a new Joseph Rowntree Foundation report which claims that Britain is heading for a property shortage of more than a million homes by 2022 unless the current rate of housebuilding is dramatically increased. It says the supply of housing is falling behind demand faster than previously recognised.</p><p>The report,<i> Land for Housing</i>, warns that the impending housing crisis will hit hardest in London and the south while in the Midlands and the north there are growing problems of low demand and of empty and abandoned property.</p><p>It adds that unless concerted action is taken, areas of high demand for housing will see increased homelessness and a crisis in public services as key workers are priced out of the housing market. The low demand in areas of the north will, meanwhile, lead to an &amp;“urban exodus&amp;”.</p><p>Lord Best, director of the …