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South West at ‘breaking point’ due to unaffordability of housing, says new report
Social landlords have warned that the housing crisis in the South West is reaching “breaking point”, as a new report reveals the region’s plummeting affordability.
The South West is now the fourth-least affordable region in England, according to a report commissioned by Homes for the South West (H4SW), a group of housing associations which operate in the area.
The research, undertaken by the University of the West of England (UWE), found that house prices have increased by at least 300% in every local authority area in the region since 1997.
There is also a yawning gap between prices and local earnings in the South West, with median house prices approximately 10 times median earnings in 2021.
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According to the report, the drivers of unaffordability in the region include a lack of land and a mismatch between local earnings and house prices.
However, it also highlighted challenges unique to the region, such as the large number of people moving to the South West from other areas in the UK.
The region has the second-highest level of in-migration of any English region, after the South East. A total of 370,878 people arrived between 2010 and 2021, it said.
Second homeownership has long been controversial in areas such as Cornwall. The report highlighted how, in 2018, the proportion of second homes in the coastal region was as high as 40% in tourist “hotspots” such as Padstow and Polzeath.
“The largest concentrations of second homes are, typically, found in local authority areas with the highest shortfalls in housing delivery, such as Cornwall, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole,” the report said.
Another issue affecting affordability in the South West is the loss of homes through the Right to Buy, especially in small rural communities.
UWE found that the South West has experienced the lowest proportionate level of sales through Right to Buy of any region, with 144,000 council homes sold since 1980.
However, this still represents a “significant depletion” of the total affordable housing stock in the South West. Data shows that 33,220 local authority-owned homes were sold between 1997 and 2021, but only 2,320 new council homes were built.
In light of the report, Victor da Cunha, chief executive of Curo, a local housing association, and chair of H4SW, called on local authorities to revisit their planning guidance to increase the proportion of affordable homes.
Mr da Cunha also urged the government to enshrine the five-year land supply in housing targets, “especially considering the suggestion of relaxing these in the recent National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) consultation”.
Recent research by Lichfields, the planning and development consultancy, suggested that changes to the NPPF could result in the delivery of around 17,500 fewer affordable homes per year.
Mr da Cunha added: “This report makes it clear that the housing crisis in South West England is reaching breaking point. Years of undersupply have increased house prices and private rents beyond the reach of many and pushed up overcrowding, sofa-surfing, homelessness and council waiting lists.”
Danielle Sinnett, a professor in sustainable built environments at UWE who led the research, added: “We were delighted to collaborate with Homes for the South West on this important piece of research, which highlights the extent of the housing affordability crisis in our region.
“We found that, despite a desire from housing associations and local authorities to deliver genuinely affordable high-quality housing, the attractiveness of the region, high land values and under-resourced planning departments are significant barriers to delivery.”
