Leader of Devon County Council John Mcinnes writes for this title.

Those are among the stark conclusions of the Devon Housing Commission after a year's intensive work in our county.

 The Commission is a partnership between the county council, Devon's district authorities and Torbay Council supported by the University of Exeter.

 It's been chaired by the independent peer and housing expert, Lord Richard Best, and just over a week ago I was able to attend the launch of the commission's exhaustive report.

 The county council declared a housing crisis three years ago and the commission was one of the results.

 Those of us who live in Devon will be familiar with some of Lord Best's conclusions from our own experience but his exhaustively researched study and raft of recommendations will provide a lot of the evidence we need to take our case for action to the new Government.

 We've known for some time that Devon has expensive housing and low wages and that's made it very difficult for local people to buy.

 But after holding meetings around the county and receiving over 500 submissions, the commission also concludes that renting is almost impossible for many people because of low stock and high rents in the private sector - partly as a result of second home ownership and long-term rental properties being converted to Air B and Bs - and in the public sector because we're not building enough social housing. Indeed while England as a whole has 17 per cent social housing, Devon has only nine per cent.

The Commission says we are running out of housing options in Devon and that's bad for individuals, communities, for economic growth and prosperity and for services like the NHS and care and our vital hospitality industry which can't recruit employees. The Commission found that people in their 20's were the most likely to be moving out of Devon while the peak years for people moving in from other parts of the country were 55 to 65.

So what are the solutions. Lord Best has suggested actions for us as a county council, for our district councils as the key housing authorities, for central Government and for the various national agencies such as Homes England.

In many cases they require partnership which is something I and my predecessor, John Hart, have been championing with our council colleagues and in our devolution proposals with Torbay Council.

 Lord Best says there should be special measures for rural and coastal communities and a countywide Development Corporation for major developments. That's to seize the initiative away from speculative developers who often find it more profitable to build four and five-bedroom "executive" houses when what are desperately needed are two-bedroom homes which our young couples need if they want to start a family.

Homebuyers over pension age should get an exemption from Stamp Duty which would help older people who want to downsize.

The Government should also introduce a new planning class for all short-term and holiday lets and local authorities should be able to limit them in areas where growth is proving detrimental to the community.

Councils should demonstrate flexibility in enabling village schemes for local people, often driven by Community Land Trusts.

So we now have a lot of data about the housing situtation across Devon and potential solutions. We've got a new Government with a commitment to reform the planning system and build 300,000 new houses every year and we are well placed to make our case and back it up with hard facts.

What we need now is action.