A report by think tank Civitas says that the population of the United Kingdom is growing at a rate of more than 500,000 a year – the equivalent of a new town of about 10,000 people being created every week.

The report, ‘Britain’s Demographic Challenge: The Implications of the UK’s Rapidly Increasing Population’, also said that based on current projections, by 2039 there will be nearly 10 million more people in the UK – enough to populate Greater Manchester three times over.

“In the year ending 30 June 2016 the population of the United Kingdom increased by 538,500, equivalent to 1,475 people per day”, the report states.

The authors note that this growth in population would require the construction of 641 homes per day – “27 per hour or one every two minutes, night and day”.