Even the cheapest house prices in Bath could be more than 18 times the average salary, a local housing official has warned.
Graham Sabourn, Bath and North East Somerset Council’s head of housing, said that the cheapest quarter of homes on the market in the district cost more than 12 times what the average person makes in a year.
He added that this figure was for the council area as a whole and that for the city of Bath itself, where houses were more expensive, prices would probably be 18 to 20 times higher than the average salary.
This puts even the cheapest houses out of the reach of many first-time buyers. Mr Sabourn said: “78 per cent cannot afford to buy a two bed terraced property in the district, which is quite an eye-opener.”
He told the council: “Affordability is continuing to get worse in the district”
According to the latest national figures for 2021, the English national average was for the cheapest quarter of houses to cost 8 times the average salary, although the figure for the house prices in the South West was higher at 9.9 times salary.
Mr Sabourn also highlighted that the average market rent for a two-bed flat was just under £1,200, but that people on housing benefit only receive £847 a month.
He said: “This effectively means, if you’re on housing benefit, forget trying to rent an average two-bed property in the district because you can’t do it.”
Designated affordable housing, where homes are sold or rented at a set amount below market rate, is being built in Bath and North East Somerset through a combination of affordable housing commissioned by the council and affordable housing being built as a requirement in larger housing developments.
This has seen 1,848 affordable homes built in the district over the last ten years, three quarters of which have been to rent and the rest for sale.
The housing head revealed these figures in a meeting of the council’s scrutiny panel where he was explaining the council’s aim to build council housing.
Approximately 6,000 people are on the waiting list for social housing in Bath and North East Somerset but only 500-600 social properties become available each year. Last year, this dropped to only 479.
The council believes delivering its own council housing will help solve this crisis and has plans to construct almost 200 general needs council housing.
Work has only begun on seven homes to date, which are almost complete and expected to welcome their first tenants this winter.
John Wimperis, Local Democracy Reporter
