England has become the ‘most difficult place in the developed world to find a home’ say housebuilders.

In a snapshot of the nation’s horrendous housing crisis the Home Builders Federation claims a greater proportion of people here live in substandard properties than when compared with the EU average.

While renters – it adds – spend 40% of their income on housing compared to 9% in France or 5% in Germany.

In Kent, it’s no secret people are struggling to get (or stay) on the housing ladder.

As a result, council housing lists are overburdened with people asking for help – priced out of a market where wages can’t keep up with the cash needed to afford a home.

Meanwhile rumours continue to swirl about Kent County Council’s finances while Medway has pulled the plug on Christmas lights in a bid to save a bob or two.

It’s said Kent needs close to 12,000 new properties every year – or around 1,000 a month – to hit government targets. Perhaps surprisingly, it’s falling short.

Labour leader Keir Starmer claims his government would become the ‘builders not the blockers’ with plans to liberate planning rules in pursuit of 1.5m new homes over five years.

Rushi Sunak meanwhile is promising one million homes over this Parliament - with new flexibilities to convert shops, takeaways and betting shops and promises to cut red tape to allow more barn conversions. (Albeit if we’re talking affordability I’m not sure how many cash-strapped families are into re-purposing farm buildings?)

But where’s the concrete plans and bold targets for public services to match? Investment which is needed to pay the wages of – and care for - the people who will move into these new homes instantly requiring schools, a GP and a dentist appointment.

Labour’s plan for growth – it says - will pay for public service improvements. But our labour market is already under such post-Covid pressures after so many left the workplace, we don’t have that time to wait.

After decades of austerity, our ramshackle services require billions in investment. Buildings are crumbling, equipment and resources are either outdated or there’s not enough to go around, and rather like housing – demand outstrips supply in every corner.

And alongside infrastructure we need greater day-to-day spending too. To pay the wages of teachers, nurses and doctors, to at least cling on to the professionals we’ve got before they’re tempted with a ticket to Oz, New Zealand or wherever else it is that values public workers more. So far Labour has made little commitment to that.

Parents of Year 6 pupils currently touring Kent’s secondary schools in search of suitable Year 7 places will tell you most headteachers warn lists are oversubscribed and not everyone wanting a space will get one. How does that fit with a need for 1,000 new homes a month?

Everything from children’s centres to youth support is suffering at the hands of decimated budgets.

It’s right to have a strategy for tackling our housing crisis – we’re chronically short of suitable properties and people deserve a decent place to live.

But bold housing targets require a bold reform of our public services and no one seems quite so fixated on that.