Key workers being priced out of housing market in Harrogate and Knaresborough

Years of rising prices have put homeownership out of reach of many key workers, who have had to channel their wages into paying high private rents, rather than being able to save for a deposit to buy their own home.

Analysis by the York and North Yorkshire Housing Partnership, which was based on the sums needed for a 90% mortgage, found that a senior care worker on the highest wage of £27,000 a year would fall almost £300,000 short of being able to afford to buy the average-priced home in the Harrogate and Knaresborough area.

If this individual applied for a joint mortgage with a partner on the average UK salary of £34,963, the couple would still be unable to afford the average priced property in Harrogate and Knaresborough.

The analysis, which was carried out using affordability calculations from the UK’s biggest building society, Nationwide, looked at the maximum mortgage that could be raised with a 10% deposit and used the maximum annual salary as shown by the National Careers Service.

Figures released by the National Housing Federation, show that the average house in Harrogate and Knaresborough now costs an eye-watering £419,975 and the average monthly private rent now stands at £871, 33% higher than the average private rents across Yorkshire.

Yorkshire’s housing crisis has worsened over the last few years with 150,000 people currently on housing waiting lists and while new homes are being built, not enough are available through affordable tenure types such as, social rent, affordable rent and shared ownership.

The National Housing Federation are calling on the next government to commit to a long-term plan for housing which delivers real change for the people who need it most and transforms the housing system, creating lasting solutions that serve people, the planet and our economy.

The calls for a long-term plan are backed by the region’s housing associations.

Nick Atkin, chair of the York and North Yorkshire Housing Partnership, said: "We desperately need to build more affordable homes.

"The impact of the region’s housing crisis are being felt everywhere, but none more so that in our schools, hospitals and care homes where soaring property prices and private rents are making it harder to recruit and retain teachers, nurses and care workers.

"Housing associations are ready, willing and committed to building the affordable homes that Yorkshire so desperately needs. But we can’t do it on our own.

"We need the government to commit to a long-term plan for housing that removes funding barriers, speeds up the planning process and delivers grant funding that keeps pace with costs to deliver the homes the region needs.”

A long-term plan for housing would enable housing associations across the area to address our current challenges, help deliver more and better homes, and work with the next government to fix the housing crisis.