Young families 'cannot afford' homes

Rural areas like Craven and Ryedale have become property blackspots for families wanting to buy a home, while across the region only one third can afford to buy.

It means many young families are being forced to put on hold their dreams of owning a home or rely on help from relatives.

The analysis by a Government housing advisory body came as new figures revealed house building dropped last year to its lowest level since 1946.

Today Housing Minister John Healey will unveil a scheme offering expert support to rural councils to help plan up to 10,000 new homes as the Government seeks to kickstart construction.

According to research by the National Housing and Planning Advice Unit (NHPAU), typical first-time buyers have seen average deposits soar from 16 per cent of annual income in 2000 to 64 per cent in 2009. The body said affordability had got worse last year as mortgage lenders demanded bigger deposits.

Their figures show Ryedale is the region's most difficult place to buy for the under 40s, with just 18.7 per cent able to afford a home in 2008. In Craven the figure was 18.9 per cent and in Scarborough 21.4 per cent. Barnsley was the most affordable, but even there only 44.5 per cent of families could afford to buy.

The figures came in a report by Prof Steve Wilcox of the University of York and Prof Glen Bramley of Heriot-Watt University who assumed buyers would need only a five per cent deposit, although the reality for many is much more than that.

Tory Shadow Housing Minister Grant Shapps said: "Thanks to Gordon Brown, three out of four young families have been kicked off the first rung of the housing ladder, urged on by Labour ministers who want to attack the aspiration of home ownership."

He also branded Labour's housing policy a "complete failure" after separate figures revealed only 118,000 homes were built in England in 2009 – 17 per cent fewer than the year before.

The Liberal Democrats said it was "devastating" that young families were being forced to put their dreams of owning a home on hold, but the Government insisted it had a "long-term commitment to affordable housing and to supporting first-time buyers by increasing opportunities to buy a share of a home".

A spokesman for the Department of Communities and Local Government said: "Our schemes are now open to households earning up to 60,000 who would not otherwise be able to afford to buy, and the funding we have put in place will result in13,000 new homes being built for those aspiring to get on the housing ladder."

Today Mr Healey will reveal that Yorkshire councils are to get expert advice to help plan and build hundreds of homes in rural areas, where affordability has been a particular headache.

Hambleton District Council will get 70,000 to develop a masterplan for 1,000 homes, a school, businesses and recreation space in North Northallerton. East Riding of Yorkshire Council will get 40,000 to plan 500 homes – 40 per cent of them affordable – in Bridlington, and 10,000 to explore how new homes can be built in market towns and villages.

Mr Healey said: "We know a lack of affordable homes for local people is acute in rural communities. People have to be able to stay in the countryside for rural areas to prosper.

"That is why we're backing rural councils with funding for the skills to provide homes young families can afford, where they want to live."

Responding to the attack over affordability, Mr Healey accused the Tories of creating a "synthetic row" and claimed they would have cut the housing budget by 1bn this year.