Gary's views

Gary's weekly views

Each week an article by Gary has appeared in the Plympton Plymstock and Ivybridge News in South West Devon. The articles are published here

Affordable Housing

When Jan and I bought our first house in Mutley in late 1979 it cost the princely sum of £13,250. Her parents lent us the deposit and the rest came from the Halifax. My starting salary as a newly qualified solicitor was £4,800pa. So our house was about three times my salary.

That same house today would be over £90,000 and young lawyers today start at just over £20,000.

My point is this. The house has increased by seven times in the years since, but the relevant salary has only gone up about four times. It has always been hard to get on the housing ladder for most of us, but it has never been harder than it is today.

In the South Hams the situation is even more dire. Average house prices: £200,000; average salaries: £17,000. So how can young people get to buy a house today to start their lives together? It is one of the biggest challenges we face locally.

Although house prices in London have fallen in recent months, they show no sign of doing so here. Reasons? This is a great place to live, warts and all; the developments at the University and Hospital are bringing higher salaried people down here; more people are working in London and commuting from here (believe it or not); more people are buying second homes in Devon; all these reasons help keep local prices high. Maybe at some stage the market will correct itself, as usually happens, but the affordability gap for first time buyers will remain. Already saddled with post-University debt, the future looks daunting for many.

The consequences are serious not just for the young people involved. Without affordable housing villages will grow old and die, labour mobility will dry up and many organisations will find it hard to recruit key workers on their doorstep. Plus it will pile pressure onto our roads, as people commute from affordable areas to jobs elsewhere.

What should policy makers do about it? First, recognise that this is a problem not just for London and the southeast, but for the West Country also, and include us in their solutions. Second, we have to find more creative incentives so that developers can provide more affordable homes. Third, we should charge full council tax on second homes and plough the money back into affordable homes.

I will be banging this drum at Westminster as hard as I can.

posted by Nigel on Monday, September 29, 2003