Affordable Housing Crisis in Yorkshire

The cost of buying your own home in Yorkshire and Humberside increased by nearly four times the rate of an average salary over the past ten years, leaving millions of people out of reach of ever getting on the housing ladder.

National Housing Federation research found that in 2001 the average price of a home in the region was £73,954, and the average salary was £14,960.

In the space of ten years the price of a home has rocketed to £155,303 - an increase of 110% - whereas wages have risen just 30% to £19,453, making buying a home increasingly unaffordable for millions of workers.

These findings are replicated across England, with the average national house price increasing by three times the rate of average income.

Saving for a mortgage has also got much harder, with the amount of deposit needed to get a mortgage rising by 386% across England as a whole - and by a huge 425% in Yorkshire and Humberside.

In 2001 the deposit for a typical 90% mortgage (available in 2001) was £7,395 in Yorkshire and Humberside, about six months' salary. By 2011 the amount banks were willing to lend was less, and so the deposit needed for a typical 75% mortgage leapt to £38,826, two years' salary.

The Yorkshire and Humberside ratio between average house price and salary was 4.9 in 2001, but by 2011 that had risen further to 8. Some local authorities within the region show even greater gaps with the biggest change in Calderdale, where house prices rose by 113% and incomes by only 16%.

The Yorkshire and Humberside local authorities where the gap between average house prices and wages has increased most over ten years are:

1. Calderdale: House prices up 113% and wages up just 16%, with prices rising from 4.0 times annual income to 7.3 times annual income.
2. Kingston upon Hull: House prices up 136% and wages up just 30%, with prices rising from 2.9 times annual income to 5.3 times annual income.
3. East Riding of Yorkshire: House prices up 112% and wages up just 22%, with prices rising from 5.0 times annual income to 8.8 times annual income.
4. Richmondshire: House prices up 128% and wages up just 31%, with prices rising from 7.2 times annual income to 12.4 times annual income.
5. Kirklees: House prices up 111% and wages up just 22%, with prices rising from 4.8 times annual income to 8.3 times annual income.
6. Rotherham: House prices up 106% and wages up just 22%, with prices rising from 4.2 times annual income to 7.1 times annual income.
7. York: House prices up 96% and wages up just 16%, with prices rising from 6.3 times annual income to 10.6 times annual income.
8. Selby: House prices up 107% and wages up just 23%, with prices rising from 4.9 times annual income to 8.2 times annual income.
9. North Lincolnshire: House prices up 102% and wages up just 22%, with prices rising from 3.6 times annual income to 6.0 times annual income.
10. Doncaster: House prices up 122% and wages up just 36%, with prices rising from 4.0 times annual income to 6.6 times annual income.

Rob Warm, Yorkshire and Humberside Lead Manager at the National Housing Federation, says:

"These shocking figures show that it is getting increasingly difficult for millions of people in Yorkshire and Humberside to buy a home of their own in the current climate.

"With the gap between income and house prices growing ever wider, people can feel like they have to win the lottery just to own a home in their local area.

"A shortage of homes means the price to buy them is being pushed ever higher by the market, and out of reach of millions of hard working families. Unless we start building more homes people can truly afford to match the demand, this will only get worse."