According to the study commissioned by the National Housing Federation (NHF), more than 8m people, equivalent to the population of London, are living in unsuitable housing in England, suggesting that the scale of the housing crisis could be far worse than officially estimated.

Research by Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh suggests the lives of one in eight people in England are now negatively affected by years of fast-rising prices and missed house-building targets.

The research shows that 3.6m people are living in overcrowded homes, 2.5m cannot properly afford where they live, the same number again are living with parents or relatives against their wishes and almost 1.4m are living in poor or substandard conditions, according to the study commissioned by the National Housing Federation (NHF).

It adds up to almost twice the number of people currently considered to be in need of housing on official waiting lists. The needy include couples forced to cohabit despite a relationship breakdown and “boomerang” adults who return to their parents because they cannot afford to buy or rent or have been made homeless.

The NHF said England needs 340,000 new homes per year to tackle the problem, but the last time that had happened was in 1968. In the year to March 2019, 169,770 new homes were built in England.