Look back in anger at crowded homes like the 1950s

Derek Long, head of the north for the National Housing Federation, says as house prices in Yorkshire have risen faster than in any other region over the past decade while wages have stagnated, an entire generation is growing up in the knowledge they will not be able to get a foot on the housing ladder.

Mr Long, whose organisation represents 1,200 housing associations across England, says the resulting overcrowding is having an impact on health and education and risks creating a widespread disillusionment reflected in kitchen-sink dramas such as John Osborne’s 1950s play, Look Back in Anger.

“We are back to the 1940s and 1950s with a housing market where older children will grow up but still be living at home,” Mr Long said. “There are not enough houses so people cannot get out – this is the stereotypical kitchen-sink drama of grim northern life.

“This is bad news for the new generation who in the past would have been able to get on the housing ladder. These are the casualties of a housing crisis which we are warning is still being played out.

“There was a good reason why so many houses were being built in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.

“The problem we have is people cannot get to buy homes or move into a bigger property to start a family and what we then get is overcrowding and all the impact of that on education and health and society as a whole.

“Whatever the conditions of the market are in the long term, you cannot have a successful private housing market without a successful social housing market. The Government really cannot stand by and let this crisis carry on.”

The National Housing Federation’s annual Home Truths report has revealed house prices have risen by 136 per cent in Yorkshire in the past decade. In North Yorkshire, which is the region’s most desirable location, the average cost of a home is £223,065, while the average wage is less than £20,000.

The average cost of a property nationally is £240,033, although the figure is inflated by London and the South-East.

It now requires 2.1 times the average income in Yorkshire and the Humber – about £41,520 – to obtain a mortgage for the average property, even with a 10 per cent deposit.

Homelessness in the region rose for the first time in seven years during the last financial year. A total of 4,420 households were registered by local authorities as homeless in 2010-11, compared to 3,880 in 2009-10.

Mr Long says the worsening situation comes despite the Government unveiling 137 different housing initiatives over the past 18 months.

Housing Minister Grant Shapps said: “I am determined that we get Britain building and deliver the affordable homes this country needs. That’s why over the last year, we are paying out £431m in New Homes Bonus funding for the delivery of 159,000 more homes across the country – including over 14,000 in Yorkshire and the Humber.

“On top of this, our £4.5bn for the Affordable Homes programme is already set to exceed expectations and deliver up to 170,000 homes over the next four years, and we’re overhauling the planning system to free up councils to build the homes they need to meet local need.”

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