2021 Manifesto FINAL DRAFT - Flipbook - Page 49
Housing
Nationwide, 1.16 million people
are sitting on housing waiting
lists, an increase of 350,000 since
2017. But perhaps even worse,
tens of thousands of children are
now living in temporary
accommodation.
For many young people, the
dream of buying a home is now
totally out of reach. In 2016, Local
Government Association research
found that the proportion of 25
year olds owning their own home
had fallen from 46% to only 20%
in 20 years, and the problem is
only getting worse. Over the last
two decades, the average house
price has risen almost four times
as much as the corresponding
rise in average earnings and six
times the rate of inflation. Here in
the West Midlands house prices
are growing faster than in any
other part of the country, with a
3.4% increase in 2019 and a 5%
increase in 2020. With the
average wage increasing by only
0.5% in 2019 it’s clear that the
gap continues to widen.
House building in the West
Midlands region has begun to
accelerate, seeing a 30%
increase since 2014/15, with
around 15,000 houses being built
per year. The WMCA has a target
of 215,000 additional homes to
build by 2031, but disappointingly
is only aiming to make 20% of
these affordable. A housing deal
has been agreed with
government, which will see £250
million made available to the
region including £100 million for
land remediation. But with such a
large gap between the cost of a
home and the average salary, the
WMCA should be striving to
provide a much higher proportion
of affordable and social homes.
Building the right type of
home
For such a wide-ranging problem
we need a wide-ranging solution.
The market has been allowed a
free hand in housing and this
approach has not worked. It’s
clear that the state needs to take
more action.