Rocketing house prices hit South-west businesses

The lack of affordable housing in the South-west is preventing businesses from hiring and keeping staff – and the problem is set to get worse.

That’s the finding of a recent poll conducted by the CBI’s South-west branch.

More than a third (37%) of the trade body’s members said the region’s high housing costs were making it difficult to run their businesses efficiently while more than half (58%) thought it would create difficulties over the next 10 years.

Half of respondents said high house prices hampered recruitment and relocation of employees, 38% said it had an impact on wages and 12% said it hindered staff retention.

The CBI in the South-west, the House Builders’ Federation and the National Housing Federation, are planning to publish a report on how to tackle the housing crisis in the next few weeks.

The CBI poll follows research by the NHF, published on Monday, which found the affordability crisis in both the South-west and South-east had deepened over the past year.

The research also found the number of council houses in both regions had dropped for the fifth year in a row.

At the end of last year, the average price of a home in the South-west was £191,646, compared with £223,298 in the South-east. Average property prices in the South-west have risen 109% since 1999 and 85% in the South-east, the NHF reports indicated.

Sharon Hedges, acting head of South region at the NHF, said: “These figures present a powerful picture of the continuing housing crisis [in both regions]. Too many people simply cannot afford decent housing.

“We welcome the recently announced increase in resources for affordable housing.

“However, these data show there is still a hell of a long way to go and that the new government must maintain the focus on improving the supply of affordable housing in the region.”

The NHF plans to release research on the other English regions in the next few weeks.