Families in North face 1.4m years of waiting list misery

It would take 1.4 million years to clear the backlog of Northern families waiting for social housing because of the broken housing market, a report by the National Housing Federation has revealed.

The Home Truths report paints a bleak picture of the North’s housing market where 589,166 households are now languishing on social housing waiting lists, as spiralling mortgage deposits and private rents push affordable housing out of reach for many.

The report reveals:

•Despite the world recession, housing in the North is still too expensive. In the past decade house prices have risen by 136 per cent in Yorkshire and Humberside, 133 per cent in the North East and 126 per cent in the North West.

•Buying an average priced home for most places in the North is now beyond the reach of the majority. It is only an option for someone in the North earning more than twice the regional average wage.

•At 4.4 years, the average wait for social housing in the North is now more than three times longer than a decade ago. The wait is 4.8 years in the North West, 4.7 years in Yorkshire and Humberside and 3.0 years in the North East.

Derek Long, the National Housing Federation’s northern head, commented: “Caught in an impossible can’t buy/can’t rent dilemma, Northern families face life-changing years on social housing waiting lists. With the lowest number of new homes for 90 years, the only things we are building up are long term problems for schooling, health and jobs.

“The North desperately needs a strong social housing sector to help economic development. The Government must act quickly so more affordable homes are built and empty homes are brought back into use before the North’s broken housing market gets any worse.’

Meanwhile, average rents in the private sector are set to soar in the next five years across the North – by 13.9 per cent in the North East, 18.7 per cent in the North West and 19.0 per cent in Yorkshire and Humberside.

Housing associations are doing their best to make a difference. They own more than 778,000 affordable homes in the North, providing housing for one in nine Northern households. In 2010/11 they built or refurbished 9,519 homes.

Yet more needs to be done. The North desperately needs more new housing, as house builders in the region only built 40 per cent of the new homes needed by the private and social sector last year.

The National Housing Federation is calling on the Government to fix the North’s broken housing market. The Government is being urged to renew its commitment to building new homes at scale and to restore the £300 million annual funding to regenerate inner-city neighbourhoods across the region. This will support housing which is a key driver of economic activity across the North.