THREE cities the size of Southampton every two years.

That’s the number of homes it is claimed that Britain needs to build to meet demand – and for many developers leafy Hampshire is a prime target.

With just two days to go until we go to the polls, housing is central to voters’ concerns in the EU referendum, with both immigration and the economy affecting prices and the construction industry.

So is Brexit the answer – with the ability to bring down European migration – or are the EU’s economic benefits more important to solving the puzzle?

South Hampshire needs 5,000 new homes per year, according to the infrastructure partnership PUSH.

But with just 3,367 net builds in 2014/15, many are looking instead at reducing demand. Cutting migration is the best way to do it, according to PUSH chairman and Fareham Borough Council leader Sean Woodward.

The Leave supporter said: “Three extra Southamptons to cope with the amount of immigration that’s happening is just unsustainable – and it’s not just the effect on housing.

“It’s my constituents telling me they can’t get GP appointments, they can’t get into the schools they want.

“That’s why we need to take control of our borders.”

Leaving the EU would also help tackle a skills shortage in the construction industry by allowing us to take more workers from around the world, Cllr Woodward said.

Reports from the Treasury and Standard & Poor’s predict house prices could fall if Britain leaves the EU, which would damage the industry and could slow the rate of housebuilding.

Many Remain campaigners say a drop in foreign investment and the wider economy – predicted by most experts in the event of an exit – would affect the housing crisis more than maintaining current levels of immigration.

Hampshire County Council’s pro-EU leader Roy Perry says it’s internal migration – Brits moving to Hampshire from elsewhere in the country – which accounts for most of the county’s overall demand.

He said: “The housing pressures [we] are facing are overwhelmingly generated by domestic growth and internal migration again largely generated by the success of the Hampshire economy and because we are a good place to live.”

He added: “An important factor is the increased demand for housing and is especially the case in Hampshire as the ageing of the population means many family houses are now occupied by elderly single occupants. This is why the county council is developing its Extra Care provision.

“I think the important case to appreciate why the UK is attractive to EU migrants and from elsewhere, is that our economy is doing well and there are jobs to be had.”