Thousands of people gathered in Westminster on Tuesday at the largest rally yet to protest against the housing crisis. The “Homes for Britain” event received cross-party support with speakers ranging from leftwing film director Ken Loach to the Ukip leader, Nigel Farage.

Frontbench spokespeople from the Conservatives, Labour, Liberal Democrats and Greens also addressed Tuesday's event – the largest protest yet at successive governments’ failure to address the shortage of affordable housing in the U.K.

Farage told the crowd of about 2,300 his party’s planned tighter immigration controls would reduce housing demand and said UKIP would build “a couple of hundred thousand” homes every year on previously used land as part of “a brownfield revolution”.

“I am sentimental about beautiful parts of this country and do not want to see beautiful parts of this country over-developed,” he said. “Building on brownfield and turning bad into good is better than turning good into concrete.”

Frances O’Grady, general secretary of the TUC accused the coalition of “social vandalism” over its 60% cut to social housing budgets and hit back at Farage saying to cheers: ”everybody, including migrants, have right to somewhere decent to live.”

“This is a country where people are homeless while mansions and penthouses stand empty,” she said. “The property market has become a giant casino where a generation of young people grow up without a hope whatsoever of getting a council house or buying their own home.”

The national rally represented a new level of slickness in housing campaigning in contrast with raucous and disobedient grassroots movements against alleged “social cleansing” by landlords.

At noon the organizers floated a 8m-square inflatable house above the London skyline on Hampstead Heath bearing the slogan “an affordable home shouldn’t be out of reach.” Underneath stood Mariam Ahmed from Leeds, who was made homeless at 13 when her parents threw her out. Now 25 she is lobbying for better housing.

“If you don’t have a home, you don’t have anything,” she said. “I was on the street and ended up in a women’s refuge. Home means love, family and security. Without a home you can’t invest in your future. On housing this government hasn’t done hardly enough. There are so many derelict buildings. Why don’t they convert them?”

Later close to the House of Commons as the rally drew close, campaigners mustered. The make up of the crowd – large numbers were middle-aged housing association employees from around the country – reflected the management of the event, led by the National Housing Federation which is lobbying for cuts to its housebuilding budgets to be rolled back. Some had turned it into a mini holiday. A small team cycled from a a housing trust in North Norfolk.

“We need to build twice as many homes,” said Daryl Cox, deputy chief executive from underneath his cycle helmet. “This is not high enough on the list of issues politicians in the election. The fact that hundreds of thousands of people are struggling for housing doesn’t seem to hit the mark.”

Labour has estimated that the nation needs at least 243,000 homes a year to keep up with the number of new households being formed but over the last decade only an average of 137,000 homes a year have been built.

The rally organizers – who include the Home Builders Federation, which represents housebuilders, and the Residential Landlords Association, whose members are often blamed for exacerbating the housing problems – are calling for the next government to draw up a plan to end the housing crisis within a generation in the first year in office after the 7 May general election.

“Those who build homes, rent homes, plan homes, design homes and campaign for homes for the first time have come together behind a simple, clear message,” said David Orr, chief executive of the National Housing Federation, which represents social landlords. “We need the government to meet us halfway by providing real leadership and a long-term commitment to solve the housing crisis within a generation.”

The NHF on Tuesday released the results of a YouGov survey carried out last August that showed 77% of people believe none of the mainstream parties will effectively deal with the housing crisis.

Housing campaigners have voiced disappointment at Labour’s refusal to include housing on its five-point election pledge card and the social housing sector is worried that the Conservatives’ campaigning is focused only on home ownership.

More than seven out of 10 people think the government should play a role in improving accessibility to housing. The NHF has called for the government to roll back 2010’s two-thirds cuts to housing associations’ budget for building new homes.

Jon Sparkes, chief executive of Crisis, a charity for homeless people, said the housing crisis “underlies the scandal of 21st century homelessness”.

The national event follows a series of local protests against alleged “social cleansing” by landlords replacing affordable housing with more expensive units for sale.

Campaigns at the New Era estate in east London and in Chelsea at the Sutton Estate have been backed by the comedians Russell Brand and Eddie Izzard respectively. On Tuesday night, Brand was set to lead a “sleepover” at the threatened Sweets Way estate in Barnet.

Lindsey Garrett, the chairwoman of the campaign to save New Era, this month attacked Labour’s housing policy warning: “Labour has no plan to solve the housing crisis.”

She said: “Labour says we need 2.2 million homes in the next parliament but proposes building much less than half of that. If you don’t build enough homes, the market price will go up. Labour’s housing policy will drive up house prices, land prices and rents, putting tenants under increasing pressure. As land prices go up, more and more landlords will want to take the money, just as our landlord did on the New Era estate.”

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