Earlier this month, Pete Redfern, chief executive of Taylor Wimpey, published a major review into a 6.2% drop in home ownership between 2002 and 2014.

The Redfern report concluded that reduced access to finance, a rapid increase in house prices and a fall in earnings for younger people were among the most significant causes of the decline.

Pete recommended the establishment of an independent housing commission in order to provide a non-partisan, long-term strategy to solve the crisis.

However, Rico Wojtulewicz, policy adviser at the National Federation of Builders, claimed that this hypothetical body could add more congestion to the planning process.

“National planning policy is already ignored by some local authorities and so a housing commission under further devolved regions may add another layer of bureaucracy to an already overburdened system,” Rico explained.

“We must fix the problems we have and not find ways to navigate around them.”

Rico suggested that stimulating small sites and infill – typically developed by SMEs, housing associations or individuals – could help to catalyse growth.

“Without wage increases it may be difficult to meaningfully increase the supply of homes, therefore reforming the planning system to make the housing market more competitive is vital.”

On the other hand, Luke Townsend, founder and CEO of Zorin Finance, argued that a housing commission may solve the issue by boosting supply.

“With the Conservatives enjoying a relatively stable government and no serious opposition, it is unlikely that there will be any serious, long-term policies to substantially increase the housing supply and thus help to bring down prices.

“Therefore, only an independent body that exists outside of the political fray holds the potential to provide stable and long-term pressure to increase the nation’s housing stock.”

Nevertheless, Luke claimed that development lenders could also prove key in facilitating this supply.

“Small- and medium-sized developers are well placed to contribute to this increased supply as they hold greater incentives to turnover developments quickly, in contrast to major builders who are notorious for mothballing sites.

“However, due to the reticence of many banks to fund development finance projects, coupled with their often strict and unyielding lending criteria, smaller builders are often unable to acquire the finance they need.”

Meanwhile, Bob Sturges, head of PR and communications at Fortwell Capital, suggested that several other factors may have contributed to the fall in home ownership.

Besides stricter access to mortgage finance, Bob explained that finding a suitable property could prove a barrier in owning a property, particularly in the South East.

He added: “…[Another factor is the] changing lifestyles among younger people, many of whom appear to prefer the advantages of renting over the relative inflexibility that comes with a mortgage commitment.”