A national gathering will be held outside Parliament next week lobbying for the UK’s housing crisis to be taken more seriously. A relay to that rally has passed through York. Matt Clark reports.

ONCE it was barely mentioned in election manifestos, now housing is almost top of the political agenda.

And not only for voters. Last week David Cameron pledged to make 200,000 homes available to first-time buyers in England by 2020, if he wins the election.

Ed Miliband meanwhile, has already promised, if elected, to build that number every year throughout the new parliament.

Which sounds great on paper. But we haven't been building anywhere near enough houses since the recession struck and it is estimated that the UK will need around 245,000 new homes a year to clear the backlog of pent-up demand.

Not just for first-timers, couples too are desperate, being unable to start a family because they can't afford to buy a bigger home.

York has one of the country's most chronic housing shortages, so it was appropriate that the city yesterday hosted Homes for Britain demonstrators who are making their way to London, where they will take part in one of this country's biggest ever housing rallies.

According to organisers the National Housing Federation, one of the main reasons housing has been historically low down on voters’ election priorities is because it’s seen as a personal, not political issue.

Julia Histon, chief executive of York Housing Association, who took over the relay for the York to Leeds leg says that needs to change.

"The housing crisis currently being faced across the country needs to be tackled quickly if we are to make sure that our children can enjoy the most basic living requirement - a roof over their heads," she says.

"If current projections are correct, there will be 369,000 new households requiring homes in Yorkshire alone over the next 20 years. But at the current building rates, there will be a shortfall of 200,000 homes in our region by 2031.”

The Relay to the Rally began in Lands’ End and Berwick-upon-Tweed. It features cyclists, runners and walkers who are carrying banners and passing batons along the route which ultimately leads to next Tuesday's Homes for Britain rally in Westminster.

The north east's baton was handed to Yorkshire Coast Housing CEO Sean Tymon in Whitby on Sunday and will arrive, with Mrs Histon's team, in Leeds tonight.