The housing issue is just simple supply and demand isn't it? The population is increasing and more people live. Yet social housing has been sold off and not replaced and the rate of building is appallingly slow while developers sit on huge banks of land. Then you have to add in the huge explosion in university attendance which has seen whole areas become house after house that's occupied by students.
Plus things like this
Traditional tourist areas of England have seen local people hit by soaring property prices.
www.bbc.co.uk
Also the issue of what type of housing is available. Where I live, in Finham, there's a huge number of 2 and 3 bedroom properties occupied by 1 person. My Mum for example will consider moving to a flat but doesn't want to leave the area so its a non starter and she will spend the next few years the sole occupant of a large house. Was the same when I moved here, I don't really need a house, a flat would do me fine, but there's only a handful and of course they are mostly rentals.