Affordable family homes are in short supply in Kirklees, claims a survey.
A study by homeless charity Shelter said that just 29% of suitable homes for sale were affordable to people trying to get on to the property ladder.
The charity looked at the asking prices for all properties for sale in Kirklees on a single day and compared them with the mortgage that families, couples and single people on average local wages could afford as first-time buyers.
More than two-thirds of properties for sale were unaffordable for families while 89% were unaffordable for single people and almost half were unaffordable for couples without children – even assuming that they were all able to save a large 20% deposit.
Shelter said the picture was even bleaker for those looking to take part in the government’s mortgage guarantee scheme, Help to Buy – where a 95% mortgage would mean higher monthly mortgage costs and put even more homes out of reach.
Previous research commissioned by Shelter showed that on average young families in the area face nine years of saving before they can afford the deposit for a home of their own.
This new study shows that – even when they have saved a large deposit – there aren’t enough properties on the market that first-time buyers can afford.
Shelter said: “This means that the reality for many will be years spent in expensive and unstable private lets.” Shelter chief executive Campbell Robb said: “When the number of affordable properties in an entire town is so small, it’s not difficult to see why a stable home of their own is quickly becoming a distant dream for the next generation.
“Unless we build the affordable homes we desperately need, house prices will continue to rise and as a result more people will be forced to live at home with their parents into their 30s or move into the expensive and unstable private rental market”.
