True scale of the housing crisis in Whitby is revealed in new Land Registry data

Land Registry data confirms the enormity of the housing crisis in Whitby

The UK House Price Index published by the Land Registry this week reveals the full extent of the crisis in Whitby, where property prices have soared due to demand from out-of-town buyers and investors who are snapping up homes as holiday lets and second homes. Locals are struggling to compete as values have shot up to unattainable highs.

The latest official data shows that, for the first time, the Scarborough local authority area, which includes Whitby, topped the Yorkshire table for annual price increases. It saw a record average house price rise of 17 per cent between April 2021 and April 2022. The average in Yorkshire as a whole was 12.4 per cent. The gain in the Scarborough district has been significantly boosted by rocketing values in Whitby.

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A poll recently saw residents back calls for a ban on new builds being sold as holiday homes and, while not legally binding, it emphasises the need for action.

Whitby's popularity has forced up house pricesWhitby's popularity has forced up house prices
Whitby's popularity has forced up house prices

While the Scarborough district topped the annual price growth table, Ryedale, which includes Malton, was a close second with a 16.3 per cent uplift and Selby saw the third greatest rise with 13.8 per cent. Hambleton saw the lowest growth with 4.4 per cent

Nationally, house price growth was strongest in the South West, where prices increased by 14.1 per cent in the year to April 2022, and the lowest annual growth was in London, which saw a 7.9 per cent gain. See the tables below to see how your part of Yorkshire fared.

Confirming the negative effects of house price growth, a Halifax report released today reveals that the impact of surging property prices throughout the pandemic has reduced housing affordability to the lowest level on record. The analysis compared typical house prices to average earnings.

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In the first quarter of 2022, the cost of a typical UK home was £279,431, while the average annual earnings of a full-time worker were estimated to be £39,402.

This puts the house price to income ratio at 7.1, the highest, or least affordable, level ever recorded.

At the start of 2020, average UK earnings were £38,374 and the average house price was £239,281. This put the house price to income ratio at 6.2. Since then, house prices have risen by

16.8 per cent, with earnings up by 2.7 per cent over the same period. In Yorkshire, there is a 5.4 house price to income ratio. The average house price in Yorkshire is £194, 639 and average earnings are £36,285.

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The average first-time buyer in Yorkshire now pays £155,690 for a home and earns an average £36,285 giving a house price to income ratio of 4.3. See the Homes and Gardens section of our website www.yorkshirepost.co.uk for more on this.

Rising house prices have also pushed property into higher stamp duty bands, which has led to calls for an urgent review of the tax. The HomeOwners Alliance commissioned a report that shows UK average house prices rose by around £100,000 between 2014 and 2022.

This has resulted in one in five homebuyers being pushed into higher stamp duty bands, with 44 per cent of transactions now falling in bands above £250,000, up from 38 per cent two years ago. The data also shows that 30 per cent more first-time buyers are having to pay stamp duty.

Paula Higgins, chief executive of the HomeOwners Alliance, is calling on the Government to be bold and scrap stamp duty entirely for those buying a home to live in, or to at least raise the exempt threshold and bands by £100,000, in line with house price growth.

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Those who are in the process of buying are being warned of a conveyancing log jam. Tim Bannister, Rightmove’s director of property science, says: “It is currently taking an average of 150 days to complete a purchase after agreeing a sale, 50 days longer than at this time in 2019.

“This means that those who are hoping to complete a deal in time to enjoy Christmas in a new home, need to come to market in the next few weeks to give themselves the best chance of finding a buyer and completing the transaction by the end of the year.”

Here are the Yorkshire house price rises by local authority area over the year to April 2022, along with the average house price.

Barnsley, 12.6 per cent (£157,142); Bradford, 6.4 per cent (£164,210); Calderdale, 9.2 per cent (£179,897); Hull, 7.4 per cent (£128,107); Craven 9.9 per cent (£255,190); Doncaster, 11.8per cent (£1162,219); East Riding, 11.2 per cent (£218,123); Hambleton, 4.4 per cent (£269,678); Harrogate, 12.6 per cent (£338,308); Kirklees, 12.1 per cent (£186,073); Leeds, 11.4 per cent (£231,692); North Yorkshire, 12.6 per cent (£270,342); Richmondshire, 10.5 per cent (£255,651); Rotherham, 7.2 per cent (£171,520); Ryedale, 16.3 per cent (£294,515); Scarborough, 17 per cent (211,586); Selby, 13.8 per cent (£251,547); Sheffield, 5.8 per cent (£200,310); Wakefield, 11.5 per cent (£187,399); York, 7.9 per cent (£302,263).