Home Truths Fixing our broken housing market. Yorkshire and Humberside

Transcription

1 Home Truths 2011 Fixing our broken housing market Yorkshire and Humberside

2 HOME TRUTHS 2011 Fixing our broken housing market New signs of housing stress Economic recovery in Yorkshire and Humberside is proving elusive and the strain is showing across the region s housing markets. Homelessness rose in 2010/11 for the first time in seven years and the region has one of the highest proportions of households waiting for a social housing home in England. Too many people are still priced out of home ownership. Since 2000, house prices in Yorkshire and Humberside have risen faster than in any other region and nearly four times faster than regional incomes. The large deposits required to buy average homes are beyond the reach of many families. Housing associations continued to rise to the challenge last year to help combat some of these issues. In 2010/11 they increased completions of new and refurbished affordable homes in Yorkshire and Humberside by 79%, despite difficult economic conditions. However, not enough homes are being built in the region. Now government investment is being cut back, just when it is needed most. We are starting to see the consequences of housing market failure and there are still large areas of low demand housing in the region. To fix the broken market, ministers should implement a range of measures that ensure housing continues to be built at scale, remains affordable and is effectively regulated across all sectors. 2

3 A housing economy needing support The average house price in Yorkshire and Humberside in 2010 was 161,466, over eight times the average regional income of 19,677. 1,2 House prices have risen 136% since 2000 and despite the recession are still 16% higher than five years ago. 1 A 25% deposit on the average home in the region would cost 40,000, twice the average regional salary. Affording the 75% mortgage would require an income of 34,600. 1,2,3 The average home in rural parts of Yorkshire and Humberside costs 10.4 times local income, compared to eight times local income in more urban areas of the region. 1,2 Only 8,950 new homes were built in Yorkshire and Humberside in 2010/11, providing homes for just 33% of the 27,040 households projected to form in the region each year. 4,5 4,420 households were accepted as homeless by local authorities in Yorkshire and Humberside in 2010/11. The 14% rise on the previous year was above the national average. 6 At 9% the unemployment rate in Yorkshire and Humberside is the equal second highest of any English region. Average incomes in Yorkshire and Humberside are 8% below the average for England. 2,5 Housing associations own 190,384 affordable homes, housing one in 12 of the region s households. In 2010/11, they built or refurbished 3,467 new homes in the area, a massive 79% increase on the previous year despite difficult economic conditions. 7 3

4 HOME TRUTHS 2011 Fixing our broken housing market Average (mean) house prices Average lower value house prices Average (median) incomes Gross annual income needed for a mortgage (75% at 3.5x) 1 Ratio of house prices to incomes 1,2 ENGLAND 240, ,000 21,398 51, YORKSHIRE AND HUMBERSIDE 161,466 95,000 19,677 34, East Riding of Yorkshire UA 169, ,000 21,044 36, Kingston upon Hull, City of UA 98,310 69,995 16,219 21, North East Lincolnshire UA 124,253 80,000 17,742 26, North Lincolnshire UA 134,917 90,000 19,937 28, York UA 202, ,000 19,812 43, North Yorkshire 223, ,000 19,958 47, Craven 218, ,000 17,789 46, Hambleton 233, ,000 20,020 50, Harrogate 274, ,000 21,263 58, Richmondshire 244, ,000 18,788 52, Ryedale 230, ,000 17,831 49, Scarborough 165, ,000 18,377 35, Selby 178, ,000 22,578 38, South Yorkshire 140,014 85,000 19,614 30, Barnsley 122,005 75,000 19,963 26, Doncaster 130,029 83,413 19,500 27, Rotherham 133,244 85,000 18,756 28, Sheffield 156,598 91,500 19,932 33, West Yorkshire 156,473 95,000 19,911 33, Bradford 146,379 86,000 18,808 31, Calderdale 148,476 86,000 20,743 31, Kirklees 151,523 92,000 19,880 32, Leeds 172, ,000 21,029 36, Wakefield 142,190 91,000 18,392 30, Average lower value house prices are based on lower quartile house prices, i.e. the value below which the 25% lowest lie 4

5 Total rented LA homes 3 Total rented HA homes 4 All new HA homes completed with HCA funding 2009/10 5 New lettings made by LAs 2009/10 3 New lettings made by HAs 2009/10 4 Change in affordable housing stock (HA and LA) ,4 Change in affordable lettings (HA and LA) ,4 1,767,872 2,242,657 47, , ,137-35,593-1% -33, % 239, ,785 1,940 21,781 16,938-14,969-3% -7, % 11,258 2, , % % 27,126 6, , ,659-7% -1, % 12 10, , % % 0 11, , % % 7,955 4, % % 8,690 20, ,682 1,311 5% % 3 2, % % 0 4, % % 3,933 2, % % 1, % % 0 2, % % 0 6, % % 3,163 1, % % 102,875 26, ,546 2,457-6,893-5% -2, % 19,235 2, , ,043-5% % 20,857 2, , ,376-5% % 20,981 3, , ,047-4% % 41,802 16, ,009 1,459-3,427-6% -2, % 81, , ,193 9,340-6,368-3% -2, % 0 31, ,127-1,200-4% % 35 14, , % % 23,122 5, , % % 58,603 15, ,464 1,019-2,728-4% -1, % , , % % 5

6 HOME TRUTHS 2011 Fixing our broken housing market What the Government should do To fix the broken housing market, the Government should: Make a renewed commitment to building the homes the region needs at scale Identify housing as a key driver of economic activity in Yorkshire and Humberside Deliver a reformed planning system that supports the building of affordable homes, ensuring that private developers continue to build social housing on sites of private development across the region through the use of planning gain Ensure that councils in Yorkshire and Humberside undertake robust housing needs assessments on which to base future development plans Place a greater emphasis in the planning framework on providing suitable housing options for older people and specialist housing for others with support needs Identify suitable surplus public land and make it available for the building of affordable homes Encourage the banks to increase mortgage availability Regulate the private rented sector to tackle the problem of rogue landlords Abandon plans for an overall benefits cap for each family Drop proposals to cut housing benefit for social housing tenants deemed to be under-occupying their homes, and Maintain the right of social housing tenants to have their housing benefit paid direct to their landlord. 6

7 Sources 1. Land Registry data, 2000, 2010 and Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), Gross individual income required for 75% mortgage at 3.5x median regional income 4. National Housing Federation research, using Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) and Communities and Local Government (CLG) statistics, 2010/ Office for National Statistics, CLG statistics, National Housing Federation research, using HCA, Tenant Services Authority, Land Registry or CLG statistics The facts in this booklet use the latest available official government statistics at the time of going to print. In some areas, the National Housing Federation has carried out additional analysis to draw out the social and economic implications of the figures. The commentary is our own. Some of this data is Crown copyright. For more information contact our research and futures team on Footnotes to tables 1. Land Registry, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), Communities and Local Government Housing Statistics Live Tables, Tenant Services Authority, Regulatory and Statistical Return, Homes and Communities Agency completions data, 2009/10 7

8 Home truths 2011 shows that: Regional house prices have risen by 136% in the last 10 years, a bigger increase than in any other region Just 33% of the homes Yorkshire and Humberside needs each year are being built Housing associations increased affordable housing completions in the region by a massive 79% last year. The National Housing Federation represents 1,200 independent, not-for-profit housing associations in England and is the voice of affordable housing. Our members provide two and a half million affordable homes for more than five million people. National Housing Federation City Point, 701 Chester Road, Manchester M32 0RW Tel: north@housing.org.uk Download all the Home truths booklets from: Written by Simon Graham at Blue Sky. Design by SPY Design and Publishing. Produced by the National Housing Federation, (September 2011). Cover printed on 300 gsm, text on 150 gsm Greencoat Velvet (80% recycled post-consumer fibre).