Areas of South-west are now less affordable than London

Coastal districts of THE south-west of England are now less affordable than central London for young homebuyers, according to a new study for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

Areas such as north Cornwall and Torridge, are now more out of reach than Westminster for people in their 20s and 30s who earn the average income for their local authority area.

The South-west is almost as unaffordable as the capital, with homes costing 4.69 times average household income in London, against 4.66 times in the South-west. The multiple is 4.61 in the South-east, which comes third.

The new figures stand in stark contrast to the ODPM’s 2003 Communities Plan, which said the South-east had more acute affordability problems than the South-west. The ODPM used 2001 house price data and attributed commuter incomes to the area where people worked rather than where they lived.

The author of the Rowntree study, professor Steve Wilcox of York University, urged a review of the policy of concentrating growth in London and the South-east. He said: “The problems in popular tourist and second-home areas such as South Lakeland and Derbyshire Dales raise questions about the adequacy of government programmes to support affordable housing in rural areas.”

House prices in the South-east are still around £32,000 higher than in the South-west but prices in the South-west have risen faster. The average income there of £32,444 is also lower than the £39,734 of the South-east.

A National Housing Federation spokesman said: “The real problem is earnings, which are lower in the South-west than the national average. The government must recognise this when giving out extra housing funding from the comprehensive spending review.”