Over 50% of income spent on rents in the South East
In some areas of the South East people have to sacrifice over 50% of their income every month, according to a new report from the National Housing Federation.
The NHF’s South East Home Truths 2016/17 report, which provides local data on the housing market in the region, details that the cost of renting privately has become less and less affordable. With average monthly rents standing at £959, local people now spend almost 40% of their income on rent, leaving them very little for other outgoings.
The report shows that there is an serious housing crisis in the region, which is wide and varied. In some areas a chronic shortage of homes has seen housing costs spiral out of reach of many families, while in other parts of the region communities are struggling in desperate need of jobs and regeneration.
The situation is particularly dire as home ownership seems more and more out of reach for most people in the region. The average home in the region now costs over £338,444 – 11 times the average salary of £30,113. The typical worker in the South East would need a staggering 157% pay rise, or an additional £47,246 a year.
The report reveals one of the sources of all this misery: nearly 90,000 too few new homes have been built over the last five years in the region. This is the biggest shortfall in housebuilding in England outside of the London region.
Housing associations are working to end the region’s crisis, completing over 8,000 new homes, and having started building over 7,000 more. They built more than 40,000 homes across the country in 2015/16, 29% of all new homes in England. At Golding Homes we completed on our 1000th home in December and have plans to build at 200 new homes each year over the next five years.
Peter Stringer, CEO, said: "We are an award-winning housing association based in Maidstone, now developing new affordable homes across 8 local Authority areas in Kent. Last year we completed 254 new homes but the need is there for all to see and pressures on household incomes will mean that affordability is a burning issue for us all to address. It is widely recognised that we need to build 250,000 new homes a year in this country to meet demand and last year we only achieved half of that amount, so Golding homes key priority is to build more affordable homes of different tenures and costs in thriving communities where people choose to live.”