New home starts are falling well short of demand, it has been claimed.

Statistics released by the Department of Communities and Local Government reveal that the number of new builds is well short of the pre-crash peak, with 45% fewer new builds in the three months to December 2012 when compared with the three months to March 2007.

Meanwhile, the housing charity Shelter estimates that 400,000 households live in overcrowded homes.

According to a recent Ipsos MORI poll, 80% of Britons agree that Britain is in the midst of a “housing crisis”.

The number of new starts increased slightly over the previous year. According to the figures, seasonally adjusted house-building starts in England numbered 26,830 in the December quarter 2012, 1% higher than the previous quarter.

Essential Living is a new platform created through a partnership between the owners of Essential Land LLP and London based M3 Capital Partners. The business strategy is to deliver 5,000 units of private rental stock over the next decade across London and the South East.

Nick Cuff, development manager at Essential Living, said: “We’re unlocking large sums from our investment partners to create a vital new source of housing supply. There is an overwhelming need for new homes and build-to-let has a key role to play in this.

“The win-win for government is having professionally managed rental homes where the investor takes a long-term interest in the community. We’re glad that policy-makers have recognised this opportunity.”