Yahoo News Key workers being priced out of York, say housing associations
SOARING property prices and rents are forcing key workers away from York, according to a group of housing associations.
As Britain goes to the polls, the York and North Yorkshire Housing Partnership has called on the winning government to build more houses to help end the housing crisis.
The analysis follows a slump in the number of rental properties available, adding further impetus to rising rents, as the Press recently reported.
The partnership says years of rising prices have put homeownership out of reach of many key workers, who have had to channel their wages into paying high private rents, rather than being able to save for a deposit to buy their own home.
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Figures released by the National Housing Federation, show that the average property in York now costs an eye-watering £346,320 and the average monthly private rent now stands at £865, 32% higher than the average private rents for Yorkshire.
Analysis by the York and North Yorkshire Housing Partnership, which was based on the sums needed for a 90% mortgage, found that a newly qualified teacher earning £30,000 a year would fall more than £211,000 short of being able to afford to buy the average-priced home in York.
If this individual applied for a joint mortgage with a partner on the average UK salary of £34,963, the couple would still be unable to afford the average priced property in the city.
The analysis, which was carried out using affordability calculations from the UK’s biggest building society, Nationwide, looked at the maximum mortgage that could be raised with a 10% deposit.
Yorkshire’s housing crisis has worsened in recent years with 150,000 people currently on housing waiting lists across the region. While new homes are being built, not enough are available through affordable tenure types such as, social rent, affordable rent and shared ownership.
The National Housing Federation is calling on the next government to commit to a long-term plan for housing which delivers real change for the people who need it most and transforms the housing system.
The calls for a long-term plan are backed by the region’s housing associations.
Nick Atkin, chair of the York and North Yorkshire Housing Partnership, said: “We desperately need to build more affordable homes.
“The impact of the region’s housing crisis are being felt everywhere, but none more so that in our schools, hospitals and care homes where soaring property prices and private rents are making it harder to recruit and retain teachers, nurses and care workers.
“Housing associations are ready, willing and committed to building the affordable homes that Yorkshire so desperately needs. But we can’t do it on our own.
“We need the government to commit to a long-term plan for housing that removes funding barriers, speeds up the planning process and delivers grant funding that keeps pace with costs to deliver the homes the region needs.”
