Report shows that Wiltshire homes out of reach for many

A new report from the National Housing Federation (NHF) shows that Wiltshire homes remain out of reach for many, with social housing waiting lists up 70%.

The 'South West Home Truths' publication shows that the estimated average house price for Wiltshire in 2008 (£237,637) stood at nearly 12 times the average (median) individual income (£20,311), and that there are over 14,400 households in Wiltshire on social housing waiting lists – an increase of over 70% in the last five years.

This situation is exacerbated in rural areas, where younger people are increasingly priced out of the communities in which they grew up or have families. On average homes cost over 13 times local incomes in these communities compared to 11.6% in more urban areas.

GreenSquare Group chief executive David Ashmore said: “This new report shows quite clearly why, in the current climate, we and other affordable-housing providers have an even more critical role to play than ever before. We are proud to be working in partnership with local authorities in the region to develop high-quality new affordable homes supported by Government funding. But as well as calling for this support to remain and grow, we also appeal to all those involved in the planning process - and to local people, generally - to stop and think carefully about the effect in both the short and longer term of opposing the development of new affordable homes.

“We want to help those highlighted in the report, such as younger people struggling to afford a home in the area in which they grew up or have family in, and build more new homes for rent and shared ownership. But sadly we sometimes still find ourselves facing those who say ‘Not in my back yard’ - people who haven’t realised that affordable housing is now something needed by all sorts of different people all across society.”

The National Housing Federation is calling on the government to:

• Increase public investment to support the building of new high-quality social housing
• Make public land available to affordable housing providers at discounted rates
• Compel the nationalised banks to make mortgage funds available for shared ownership
• Ensure local housing authorities assess housing need in all rural areas every three years and publish an action plan to deliver affordable homes.

Jenny Allen, South West Regional Manager for the National Housing Federation, said: “While we welcome the Government’s efforts to inject more money into affordable housing we need high levels of funding to continue if we’re going to avoid a housing crisis in the future.”

“In today’s tough economic climate, where first-time buyers and low-to-middle income households in the region can only dream of owning a home, the solution has to be to invest in more high-quality homes for social rent now before prices begin to escalate again.

“In order to meet this need, Government must ensure that the region’s housing associations, who build the majority of affordable homes here, get the necessary funding and income required to enable them to deliver the homes we so desperately need.”