DEVELOPERS are building only a tiny fraction of the social housing Bradford needs, according to figures published today.

Last year, only 40 affordable homes were built across the district - six per cent of the number needed - according to the National Housing Federation.

The federation's chief executive, David Orr, warned that it was seeing a similar picture across Yorkshire and urged politicians to "get their heads out of the sand" and tackle the problem urgently.

The federation, which represents social landlords, said there was also a huge shortfall in new housing overall, even though the population was expanding fast.

A total of 860 homes were built in the district in 2014, fewer than half of the target number of 1,817.

Mr Orr said: "The alarm bells sounded long ago, and yet nothing seems to have changed. For the sixth year a row, new home building is at rock bottom."

He warned that the failure to cater for demand would push up prices and leave needy people out in the cold.

He said: "Unless we act now and building more housing of all types, but particularly genuinely affordable housing, we are in danger of making today’s housing crisis our children’s problem.

"That’s why we’re asking that politicians get their heads out the sand and commit to a long-term plan to ending the housing crisis within a generation."

Bradford’s population has been rising faster than the national average for years, mainly down to a high birth rate.

There are about 4,000 more births than deaths in the district each year, and this trend is set to continue.

Councillor Val Slater, executive member for housing at Bradford Council, said she agreed house-building in Bradford did need to pick up speed.

She said: "One of the worrying things for me is the lack of affordable housing being built."

Developers often agree to build a proportion of affordable homes on private developments during the process of gaining planning approval.

In Bradford, the target is usually at least 15 per cent.

But Cllr Slater said during the downturn, many developers had been able to successfully argue that they could not build the affordable housing and still make a reasonable profit.

Cllr Slater added that the Council, together with social landlords, would be building hundreds of affordable homes on brownfield sites across the district in the next few years, thanks to grants from the Homes and Communities Agency totalling £12 million.