West Midlands
HOME TRUTHS 2012
The housing market in the West Midlands
West Midlands
More homes would boost our economy Given that only half of the new homes the West Midlands needs each year are being built, it is no surprise the region is in the grip of a housing crisis. The shortage of homes explains why house prices remain so inflated despite the recession, why private rents in the region could rise by nearly 60% in the next 10 years4, why housing waiting lists have virtually doubled since 20011, and why homelessness and overcrowding are on the increase1. Poor housing supply impacts across the whole market. It affects the lives of young people and families and damages our economic prospects. The Government’s latest measures to speed up new development are helpful, but more needs to be done to boost regional employment, reduce homelessness and poor housing conditions, and make housing costs more affordable for hard-pressed, hardworking people. Building more homes would not only tackle the West Midlands’ housing crisis, it would powerfully kick-start the regional economy.
What the Government should do The Government and the whole housing industry need to take a long-term view, tackling the market difficulties with a joined-up approach. Addressing the lack of houses – the supply shortage – is crucial to ensure we have a healthy, sustainable, affordable housing market across all tenures (home ownership, private rent and social housing) that strengthens the economy in the West Midlands and meets people’s aspirations rather than defeats them. 2 | Home Truths 2012
HOME TRUTHS 2012 Housing associations are ready and able to play their part and deliver more homes. The Government has recently put in place some welcome, important short-term measures, including a debt guarantee. But now broader, long-term solutions are needed. Housing associations could do much more if there was a ready supply of public land available to build on, if they had more certainty over rent levels after 2015 so they could raise the additional finance needed to build, and if red tape preventing them from using their homes and other assets flexibly and productively was cut.
To stem the urgent housing shortage, the National Housing Federation calls for: ■The rapid release of publicly owned land to housing associations so they can build homes. For the quickest economic impact the Government must immediately release small parcels of brownfield sites, which can be delivered more quickly than larger sites. Each of these could be capable of delivering up to 100 new homes. Based on the Government’s own data5, we have already identified land equivalent to two cities the size of Wolverhampton that could be built on. ■The Government should provide certainty on its longterm plans for investing in social housing. Currently housing associations are struggling to plan beyond 2015, when the current programme ends. Without certainty that there will be Government support for new homes, it is too high risk for housing associations to commit to new development. The Government could create some certainty by retaining the present Home Truths 2012 | 3
West Midlands
rental formula for housing associations until 2020, allowing them to commit to delivering new homes in the future. ■ The Government must also cut red tape to allow housing associations to unleash their entrepreneurial skills. For example, housing associations need more freedom to be innovative in the use of their assets and their ability to raise finance. The flexibility to take an imaginative approach would allow housing associations to build more homes. ■ We know people want more homes built, and we need to encourage their voices to be heard above those of the NIMBYs. Public support for more homes is vital. That’s why we’ve launched our new campaign, Yes to Homes. Visit www.yestohomes.co.uk to join the campaign.
The evidence ■ 8,640 homes were built in the West Midlands in 2011/12, but around 17,000 new households a year are forming. Only 50% of the homes the region needs are being built.1 ■ 183,945 households are now on social housing waiting lists in the West Midlands, a 98% increase in the last 10 years, far higher than the national average.1 ■ 66,000 households were living in overcrowded conditions in the West Midlands in 2011. A higher proportion of families are overcrowded than in any other region except London. 1 4 | Home Truths 2012
HOME TRUTHS 2012 ■ 8,560 households were accepted as homeless by West Midlands’ local authorities in 2011/12, an increase of 21% in the last two years.1 ■ The average house price in the West Midlands in 2011 was £171,707, nearly nine times the average regional income of £19,698.2,3 ■ A 25% deposit on the average home in the West Midlands costs nearly £43,000, or more than two years’ gross average income in the region. The cost of a mortgage deposit is over four times higher than 10 years ago.2,3
Sources 1. Communities and Local Government (CLG) statistics, 2001, 2011 and 2012 2. Land Registry data, 2011 3. Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), Office for National Statistics, 2011 4. Housing Market Analysis report for National Housing Federation, Oxford Economics, August 2012 5. National Land Use Database
Home Truths 2012 | 5
West Midlands
Average (mean) house prices 2011¹
Average (median) incomes 2011²
Gross annual income needed for a mortgage (75% at 3.5x)1
Ratio of house prices to incomes1,2
Households on waiting list 20113
ENGLAND
£236,518
£21,346
£50,682
11.1
1,837,042
West Midlands
£171,707
£19,698
£36,794
8.7
183,945
Herefordshire UA
£216,590
£17,477
£46,412
12.4
5,054
£97,409
£18,392
£20,873
5.3
6,533
Telford and Wrekin UA
£152,874
£18,699
£32,759
8.2
17,569
Shropshire UA
£203,887
£19,204
£43,690
10.6
10,798
Staffordshire
£168,818
£20,067
£36,175
8.4
18,688
Cannock Chase
£137,346
£19,438
£29,431
7.1
1,984
East Staffordshire
£156,219
£18,985
£33,476
8.2
1,850
Lichfield
£213,162
£23,072
£45,678
9.2
2,375
Newcastle-under-Lyme
£145,253
£19,334
£31,126
7.5
2,138
South Staffordshire
£199,069
£21,013
£42,658
9.5
1,044
Stafford
£184,771
£20,920
£39,594
8.8
2,850
Stoke-on-Trent UA
Staffordshire Moorlands
£156,304
£19,807
£33,494
7.9
4,261
Tamworth
£146,506
£19,152
£31,394
7.6
2,186
Warwickshire
£212,100
£21,923
£45,450
9.7
13,612
North Warwickshire
£163,036
£21,190
£34,936
7.7
1,594
Nuneaton and Bedworth
£137,844
£19,786
£29,538
7.0
2,094
Rugby
£182,194
£23,223
£39,042
7.8
2,702
Stratford-on-Avon
£275,762
£21,923
£59,092
12.6
4,127
Warwick
£239,373
£23,280
£51,294
10.3
3,095
West Midlands (Former County)
£151,759
£19,448
£32,520
7.8
90,560
Birmingham
£153,660
£19,536
£32,927
7.9
16,429
Coventry
£136,335
£20,176
£29,215
6.8
20,460
Dudley
£145,130
£19,204
£31,099
7.6
6,157
Sandwell
£118,783
£18,777
£25,454
6.3
8,682
Solihull
£237,783
£23,889
£50,954
10.0
13,310
Walsall
£139,374
£17,711
£29,866
7.9
14,511
Wolverhampton
£128,503
£18,538
£27,536
6.9
11,011
Worcestershire
£206,137
£19,578
£44,172
10.5
21,131
Bromsgrove
£237,280
£21,991
£50,846
10.8
2,978
Malvern Hills
£242,416
£17,118
£51,946
14.2
1,988
Redditch
£158,326
£17,997
£33,927
8.8
3,367
Worcester
£176,924
£20,769
£37,912
8.5
4,637
Wychavon
£239,716
£21,986
£51,368
10.9
4,235
Wyre Forest
£172,085
£17,644
£36,875
9.8
3,926
Figures in italics are estimates based on previous years’ data
Footnotes to tables 1. Land Registry, 2011 2. Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), 2011 3. Communities and Local Government Housing Statistics Live Tables 4. Homes and Communities Agency, Regulatory and Statistical Return 2011 5. Homes and Communities Agency Completions data, 2010/11 6. Office for National Statistics model-based estimates of unemployment, 2012 (Crown Copyright reserved)
6 | Home Truths 2012
HOME TRUTHS 2012 Unemployment rates 2011/126
Homeless acceptances per 1,000 population 2011/123
All new housing association homes completed with HCA funding 2010/115
Total rented housing association homes 20114
Total rented local authority homes 2011 3
New lettings made by housing associations and local authorites 2010/113
Percentage of homes that are second homes 20113
8.1%
2.0
49,196
2,319,386
1,725,905
323,048
1.09%
9.1%
3.8
4,401
242,836
209,822
39,832
0.59%
5.6%
3.4
96
11,369
9
765
0.94%
10.1%
2.5
309
7,020
19,190
2,544
0.34%
8.6%
2.0
181
13,538
0
1,307
0.27%
6.2%
2.2
217
13,458
4,240
1,493
1.01%
6.6%
1.4
564
42,365
9,973
4,077
0.32%
9.3%
1.1
128
1,633
5,441
621
0.32%
6.6%
0.5
102
6,356
0
668
0.35%
6.4%
2.9
14
5,675
0
364
0.18%
7.8%
0.1
146
9,859
7
684
0.59%
6.2%
1.2
60
6,368
0
432
0.29%
5.1%
1.2
66
7,266
0
498
0.23%
5.2%
2.3
18
3,646
0
277
0.41%
9.8%
3.5
30
1,562
4,525
533
0.07%
6.5%
1.9
393
14,312
18,341
2,770
0.83%
6.3%
0.9
95
967
2,745
399
0.24%
8.0%
2.7
147
1,844
6,047
837
0.10%
6.6%
1.4
70
2,103
3,918
478
0.48%
4.7%
1.7
76
6,849
0
477
1.08%
5.0%
2.1
5
2,549
5,631
579
1.03%
11.7%
5.6
2,298
109,844
151,981
23,980
0.61%
13.7%
9.7
888
40,337
64,635
9,335
0.98%
9.7%
4.5
171
24,229
127
2,576
0.70%
9.9%
1.2
78
4,174
23,051
2,464
0.32%
11.9%
4.4
242
5,802
30,096
3,122
0.08%
7.3%
3.9
179
2,547
10,553
1,130
0.41%
11.3%
1.2
616
26,915
0
2,769
0.24%
12.8%
3.7
124
5,840
23,519
2,584
0.60%
6.3%
3.0
283
30,930
6,088
2,896
0.59%
6.1%
1.7
56
3,945
0
271
0.24%
5.7%
1.7
33
4,657
0
320
1.11%
7.0%
1.3
44
1,680
6,071
770
0.11%
7.6%
5.2
23
6,767
8
595
0.52%
4.8%
3.9
68
7,465
9
586
0.84%
6.9%
3.4
59
6,416
0
354
0.67%
Note The facts in this booklet use the latest available official government statistical sources at the time of going to print. In some areas, the National Housing Federation has carried out additional analysis to draw out the social and economic implications of the figures. The commentary is our own. Some of this data is Š Crown copyright.
Home Truths 2012 | 7
National Housing Federation 101 Victoria Street Bristol BS1 6PU Tel: 0117 929 7388 Email: midlands@housing.org.uk Website: www.housing.org.uk
Find us or follow us on:
The National Housing Federation is the voice of affordable housing in England. We believe that everyone should have the home they need at a price they can afford. That’s why we represent the work of housing associations and campaign for better housing. Our members provide two and a half million homes for more than five million people. And each year they invest in a diverse range of neighbourhood projects that help create strong, vibrant communities.
The National Housing Federation runs iN business for neighbourhoods in partnership with members to promote the neighbourhood work of housing associations.