In Exeter:
Planned house-building slashed by 3,000 – a fifthJust 25% of the homes needed for local families are being built House building down by 40% in last five yearsShortfall is costing 500 local jobs No of families on social housing waiting lists has more than trebled in 10 years Average house prices have more than doubled in 10 years from £80k to £186k
New research released today reveals that planned housing numbers in Exeter have been reduced by 20% following the scrapping of the Regional Spatial Strategies and the introduction of the new planning system. This reduction is 150 homes per year which, over the 20 year period of the Regional Spatial Strategies, amounts to 3,000 homes.
Meanwhile, the report reveals that house-building in Exeter has fallen by around 40% over the past 6 years and official government projections reveal that the number of households in the area is expected to increase by 480 annually – four times the current house-building level.
Average house prices in the area more than doubled in the last decade, from £80,869 in 2000/01 to £186,625 – more than 7x average income - in 2010/11. A lower quartile priced house – those most often bought by first time buyers – costs £152,281 in Exeter meaning that young families need to find around £30,000 deposit to get a foot on the property ladder.
Meanwhile, pressure on the area’s social housing is growing with the waiting list more than trebling from 2,008 families in 2001 to 7,791 families last year. If enough houses were built to meet household projections more than 500 local jobs would be created.
Stewart Baseley, Executive Chairman at HBF said today:
“Exeter is suffering from a serious under supply of housing. It is crucial that more homes are built, particularly for younger families and first time buyers. It is a little concerning that the local authority has reduced its housing targets by a fifth and important that they recognise the responsibility they have to communities in their area.
“On top of the obvious social benefits - increasing affordability and easing the pressure on social housing waiting lists - building the homes the area needs would create hundreds of local jobs and kick-start the local economy.”
Download
click here to open South West Housing Crisis Report
For media enquiries, or to arrange an interview, please contact Steve Turner on 020 7960 1606 / 07919 307 760 or steve.turner@hbf.co.uk
Notes to Editors:
The Home Builders Federation (HBF) is the representative body of the home building industry in England and Wales. HBF’s members account for some 80% of all new homes built in England and Wales in any one year, and include companies of all sizes, ranging from multi-national, household names through regionally based businesses to small local companies: www.hbf.co.uk
Useful stats
Permissions for fewer just 36,761 new homes were approved in Q1 2012 in England, compared with 40,000 in Q1 2010 and against a quarterly housing requirement of nearly 60,000 based on the Government’s household projections. In Q1 2006 over 60,000 permissions were granted by local authorities1.8 million families (5 million people) are currently on Local Authority waiting lists in EnglandFTBs aged between 22 and 29 have to save 45% of their take home pay every month for five years to afford a depositThe number of households is projected to grow from 21.7m in 2008 to 27.5m in 2033, a rise of 5.8m (27%), or 232,000 per year. (DCLG Household Formation Projections.)Jobs Calculator:
Each home built creates 1.5 full-time jobs -Michael Ball reportIncreasing house-building by 130,000 units per year (to Government household projection levels) would create 195,000 jobs.HBF estimates twice that number of jobs are created in the supply chain – close to 400,000 jobs.Over the last three years, home builders have invested more than £1billion in shared equity schemes to help maintain housing construction whilst helping close to 30,000 first time buyers get a foot on the ladder.HBF’s Housing Market Report (May’11) shows that 91% of house builders now see the lack of mortgage availability as a ‘major constraint;’ on their ability to sell, and thus build, homesAccording to Government figures, even in its current crisis state, housing supply accounts for around 3% of UK GDP and provides between 1 and 1.25 million jobs in the UK.The number of new homes completed in England in 2010 slumped 13% on the previous year – itself the lowest peacetime number on record since 1923.18% of females and 29% males aged 20-34 still live with parents – ONS social trends - over 1 million women and 1.7 million men aged between 20 and 34 are still living at homeWhilst over 80% of people believe Britain needs more homes, particularly for first time buyers, only 50% of people would welcome more homes in their area - NHMB survey, Nov 2010.
