You’d be earning £37,066 more a year, on average, if wages had risen by as much as house prices in Wallington South since 1997. If food prices had risen at the same rate as house prices over the past 40 years, then today a chicken would cost you £51.33.

Four pints of milk would be £10.48, and a loaf of bread would set you back £4.37.

More than 80 per cent of properties for sale in England are unaffordable for the average working family looking to buy their first home, according to new research from Shelter.

In eighty-three areas across the country, accounting for more than a quarter of England, there were fewer than 10 homes for sale that were affordable.

In Wallington South there were none. Devastating news for those families and young people trying to get on the ladder.

And, even more worrying for the next generation’s chance of a stable home.

More and more people are getting trapped in expensive and insecure rented homes, or can’t afford to move out of their parents’ homes until well into their 30s.
On average, rents rise by £300 a year. Put together with stagnant wages, all this means people are finding it harder and harder to keep up.

Rising rents are making it harder than ever to save for a deposit – or even make it to the end of the month.

Locked out of home ownership, many people are facing a lifetime of unstable renting instead. Our latest Rent Trap report shows rents rose in 83 per cent of the country in 2012.

The problem isn’t simply confined to London and the South East. In Exeter only 1 per cent of homes on the market are affordable. In South Lakeland in the North West it is 4 per cent and in Herefordshire it is just 3 per cent.

Unsurprising when the average deposit on a first-time home is £27,000. Clearly house prices are out of control.

No matter how hard people work, they just can’t save enough to keep up. Politicians need to meet people half way and build more affordable homes. 

Now. Otherwise it will only get worse.

DAVID MURRAY
Blenheim Gardens
Wallington


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