Residential conveyancing news: Affordability gap widens in countryside

Posted 07/03/2011

People hoping to use a residential conveyancing solicitor to purchase a home in the countryside may find that property is becoming increasingly unaffordable.

This is according to new research from the National Housing Federation (NHF), which looked at house prices in comparison to wages in rural areas between 1999 and 2009.

It found that the ‘affordability gap’ increased in every rural area in Britain during this timeframe, with some locations seeing properties that now cost more than three times local salaries.

In 1999, the average countryside home cost £95,073 and an average salary was £13,505. However, despite salaries only increasing to £18,538, a property in a rural location would now cost around £214,008.

This is making it increasingly hard for workers in these locations to buy homes, with Fenland in Cambridgeshire, East Derbyshire and the Derbyshire Dales particularly affected.

NHF spokesperson David Orr commented: “With the disparity between income and house prices growing so rapidly, local inhabitants can often feel like they have to win the lottery to be able to buy in their local area.”

In November 2010, research from Lloyds TSB found that properties in market towns could cost as much as £30,000 more than homes in other areas.