Wales least affordable part of Britain for first-time buyers

Wales is the most difficult part of Great Britain for first-time buyers to get onto the property ladder, according to new data.

A home affordability index report published by Skipton Group building society found six out of the 10 least affordable areas of Britain were in Wales.

The index considers a range of factors including house prices in local areas as well as the average income of potential first-time buyers.

The Welsh government said it understood the difficulties facing first-time buyers and had extended the Help to Buy Wales scheme.

Ceredigion and Powys were found to be the least affordable areas of Wales for first-time buyers.

Average house prices in Ceredigion were £236,000, higher than the Wales average.

That is despite the county having “the seventh lowest median income in Great Britain” and means less than 3% of potential first-time buyers living in the area can afford to buy, according to the report.

Owen Shiers, 40, a freelance musician who lives in a social housing co-operative near Eglwys-fach, Ceredigion, said he had “given up” on owning his own home.

Mr Shiers pays rent and, with the other tenants, is responsible for managing and maintaining the house.

He said he was not surprised that Ceredigion came bottom of the affordability league.

“I think people forget that Ceredigion is one of the poorest areas of northern Europe,” said Mr Shiers.

“There’s gross inequality between the people who maybe have grown up here and who are part of the economic system in Ceredigion, and the people who often come from the big cities who have a lot of money.”

Mr Shiers said he had thought about buying a house but “it seems so insurmountable to me, given my own economic situation.

“I have worried about it, but I’ve kind of given up. It just seems impossible.”

He said he was worried about the impact on Ceredigion.

“I see it having a far wider effect on the Welsh language and Welsh culture and the ability of young people to stay in the places where they’ve grown up.

“My sister couldn’t afford to buy a house in the village where we grew up. She’s got a young family and had to move quite far away.

“We often only find out how bad that has been when it’s too late. It’s a bit like watching a car crash in slow motion. You feel powerless to stop it.”

• Ceredigion – 2.7% of first-time buyers can afford to buy
• Powys – 2.7% of first-time buyers can afford to buy
• Pembrokeshire – 2.9% of first-time buyers can afford to buy
• Cardiff – 3% of first-time buyers can afford to buy
• Vale of Glamorgan – 3.1% of first-time buyers can afford to buy
• Monmouthshire – 3.3% of first-time buyers can afford to buy

Source: Skipton Group Home Affordability Index Report

Stuart Haire, Skipton Group’s chief executive, said people “might expect London and the south-east to dominate the least affordable areas for first-time buyers, so it’s shocking to see Wales feature so heavily”.

“The first step onto the property ladder remains by far the hardest, but for Welsh first-time buyers, it must feel impossible.

“Our new data shows just how stark their affordability challenge is.”

Tania Dutnell, an estate agent in Ceredigion, said another issue affecting first-time buyers in the county was the type of properties for sale.

There are “a lot of large properties…we don’t have many small (houses) or lots of terraced houses. There’s lots of different properties on the higher end of the stock market”, said Ms Dutnell.

She also said that interest rate rises in recent years had made things more difficult.

“For the first time buyers, you’ve got options of staying with parents, and the bank of mum and dad to help to get deposits together.

“Or you are in rented accommodation [which] is very expensive, and all the money that you earn tends to go onto that, so it’s very hard to save.”

Ceredigion council said its planning department had a target of 20% of all houses to be affordable across the county.

It said that target has been exceeded, with 37% of permitted houses and 33% of all houses built since the adoption of the Local Development Plan being affordable.

A council spokesperson added: “The council has also introduced a Community Housing Scheme, an equity sharing product, to support people to get on the housing ladder.”

The Welsh government said it understood the difficulties facing first-time buyers.

A spokesperson said: “In December, we launched the extension of our Help to Buy Wales scheme which has helped more than 14,500 people who could not afford to buy a home.

“Our Self Build Wales scheme also creates opportunities for people to build homes through loan funding for land and development costs.”