Ryedale least affordable place in north for young (From Gazette & Herald)

Ryedale least affordable place in north for young

YOUNG working households in Ryedale have more difficulty buying their own home than anywhere else in the north, new research has revealed.

Ryedale is the only district from outside the south of England to feature in the top 40 of a league table published this week, which highlights areas with the worst problems.

The research, by Professor Steve Wilcox of York University, has been published by the York-based Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

It pinpoints the problems of younger households in England, Scotland and Wales, whose incomes would be too high to qualify for Housing Benefit if they lived in social rented accommodation, but too low to afford a mortgage on even the cheapest two or three-bedroomed house for sale in their area.

The report claimed that just over a fifth of households were affected across Britain, but the figures were much higher in London, the south-east and the south-west.

Of the 40 worst affected districts with 40 per cent or more of such households unable to buy, 39 are in the south. Ryedale is the solitary exception, with 40.6 per cent in such a situation.

Harrogate is the next worst in the north, in 88th place, with 34.9 per cent affected, followed by York in 99th place with 33.2 per cent.

Hambleton is in 133rd spot, with 30 per cent, while Selby is in 275th place, with 16.7 per cent of young households unable to buy their own home.

East Riding of Yorkshire is in 299th position, with 12.8 per cent affected, but Kingston upon Hull is in 398th, with only a tiny number - 0.7 per cent - affected. Middlesbrough suffers no such problem whatsoever.

Prof Wilcox said the analysis revealed a "yawning gap" in the market for "intermediate housing products", such as shared ownership and attractively priced private renting, which was potentially much larger than had previously been recognised by the Government.

"At the very least, the figures justify some new and creative thinking on ways that the current range of intermediate housing products could be expanded to appeal to the growing number of young, working households who simply cannot afford local house prices."

Coun Brian Maud, vice-chairman of Ryedale District Council's planning committee, said that the study findings rang true.

"Ryedale is a very popular area for people to come and live, and houses are in great demand," he said.

"People are falling over themselves to come and live here, and that inevitably drives prices up.

"However, there are new housing developments being built - work is due to start soon on more than 200 homes off Scarborough Road, Norton, and that will certainly take some of the pressure off."

Updated: 14:55 Wednesday, October 12, 2005