Rural areas have greater affordable housing crisis than urban areas (Kirsty Williams AM )

Cymraeg
English

Kirsty Williams AM <info@kirstywilliams.org.uk>

Rural areas have greater affordable housing crisis than urban areas

November 6, 2007 3:00 PM

Welsh Liberal Democrat AM for Brecon & Radnorshire Kirsty Williams has voiced growing concern that Powys is being hit hard by high house prices.

"Powys had the third highest average house prices in Wales for 2006, with the average house price being £159,000. A figure unaffordable to the majority of our first time buyers.

"Since 1999 there has been an average price increase of 169.5%, Powys wages increases however are not in line with this. The house price to earnings ration in Powys is 7.95 compared to the Wales average of 6.28. This is the fourth highest in Wales and confirms a worrying trend whereby rural areas have the highest house price to earnings ratios in Wales.

"These figures highlight that rural areas have a greater relative lack of affordable housing than urban areas, which are often traditionally seen as areas of greater deprivation. This is pushing first time buyers and young people out of our rural areas, to the detriment of the local economy and social make-up of our communities. It is assisting in the erosion of our local services such as schools and post offices following a reduction in economic activity, skilled work force and young families.

"The Labour-Plaid Assembly Government could tackle this problem by increasing the money given to Councils and Housing Associations, so that they have more resources to build more housing. We need innovative ways of providing shared equity schemes to those priced out of the market. More ambitious thresholds could be set for developers to build a higher percentage of affordable local needs housing. Local Authority's Unitary Development Plans should include provisions for more affordable housing for local people, with land being allocated for this purpose.

The government should also be promoting the development of Community Land Trusts, similar to that found in Llanbedr, which I recently took the Welsh Minister for Housing to visit as a shining example of what local communities can and are doing.

"I hope that the recently launched Commission on Rural Housing in Wales will help the push for greater Government recognition of the dire situation faced by house buyers in our rural communities."