11,000 families on social housing waiting list as house building slumps by a half Building homes required would generate £16M annually in Government funding and create 2750 jobs
A new report released today reveals that house building in Kirklees has plummeted over the last five years with just 660 homes being started in the area last year. This is down from 1380 just five years ago.
The drop is despite recently released Government figures showing that the number of families in the area will increase by an average of 1840 each year up to 2033.
These additional households will put added pressure on housing in Kirklees where there are currently over 11,000 families on the council’s list for social housing - almost double the number in 2000.
Meanwhile, in that time Kirklees’ house prices have soared and are currently running at over five times average income. This, combined with a lack of mortgage availability is particularly hitting beleaguered first time buyers, requiring them to find deposits of around £20,000 to buy a home. Clearly this is out of the reach of most, forcing them to stay with parents or rent and possibly delay starting their own family.
The report also shows the financial rewards Kirklees would receive from building the homes it clearly needs. The Government’s new incentive for house building, the New Homes Bonus, could see funding for the area increase significantly at a time when grants across all service areas are being slashed.
If enough homes in Kirklees were built to meet household projections the area could see around £16 million extra funding every year and 2750 jobs created.
Stewart Baseley, Executive Chairman at HBF said today:
“Kirklees 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.
“On top of the obvious social benefits, building the homes the area needs would create thousands of jobs and bring in millions of pounds from central government.”
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
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Notes to Editors:
The Home Builders Federation (HBF) is the representative body of the home building industry in England and Wales. The HBF’s 300 member firms 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 than 34,000 new homes were approved in Q1 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 authorities 1.8 million families (5 million people) are currently on Local Authority waiting lists in England. FTBs aged between 22 and 29 have to save 45% of their take home pay every month for five years to afford a deposit The 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 report Increasing 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 almost £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, homes According 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 In February, Local Authorities learnt for the first time how much they will receive from developing. Some will gain over £4M in New Homes Bonus whilst others will receive nothing. The figures also show that some Local Authorities will in future be missing out on up to £27M a year by scrapping previous plans for homes or not building enough to meet the needs of their communities 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 Or; Over 1 million women and 1.7 million men aged between 20 and 34 are still living at home The average age of a first-time buyer (FTB) purchasing a home without financial assistance is now 37. (CML the original source of this have backtracked somewhat on it, but everyone, including Shapps now take it as read. However, may be best to avoid as gives ammunition to people if we quoting incorrect stats.) Whilst 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.
