News Date: Sunday 6th November 2005
Tim condemns figures that show it is harder than ever to buy a house in Adur
Recently published data reveals that the average cost of a house in Adur last year was over six times higher than the average annual income, making it impossible for many first time buyers to step onto the property ladder.
East Worthing and Shoreham MP Tim Loughton found these figures in a study by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and is alarmed by the discrepancy between the amount of money people earn and the amount needed to purchase a house.
Tim commented:
"I am deeply concerned that these figures will mean that the number of people who can afford to buy a house will get fewer each year. Annual household earnings in Adur are ?29,123 while the average house price is ?179,698. This means that a first time buyer may have to borrow five or six times the amount of money they earn in a year if they take out a mortgage.
"The Government must take more realistic steps to encourage affordable housing and the solution here in Adur would be for them to start by encouraging the 7,294 homes in West Sussex that are lying empty to be made available to first time buyers and promoting more imaginative schemes to open up more brownfield space for sustainable housing.
"Clearly John Prescott's policy of imposing central housing targets, which rely on concreting over our diminishing green space, on West Sussex has only pushed property more out of the reach of local people and made the problem worse."
Note to Editor:
1) These figures are published in a report by Steve Wilcox for The Joseph Rowntree Foundation and a copy of the report can be downloaded from: http://www.jrf.org.uk/knowledge/findings/housing/0415.asp
?, Tim Loughton MP , 2005
