DORSET is facing a housing crisis with the majority of homes out of reach for families looking to buy their first home, research has revealed.

Figures published today by the housing charity Shelter reveal that just eight properties in Weymouth and Portland (1.7 per cent) are affordable for families who need at least two bedrooms. In west Dorset there are said to be only 26 affordable homes (4.0 per cent).

The housing charity analysed prices of properties of properties for sale and compared them with the mortgage an average family buying their first home could afford. To work out which homes were affordable for families, an ‘affordability threshold’ was calculated by Shelter to work out how much an average first time buying family could borrow based on data published by the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

Shelter claims almost 95 per cent of properties on the market in the South West aren’t affordable for families and labelled it a ‘scandal’.

Shelter identified hotspots in the region where the problem is particularly severe, including Weymouth and Portland. The worst area in the county is North Dorset where there are just eight properties (1.4 per cent).

With just over a week until election day, Shelter is warning that unless politicians act swiftly to build the homes that are needed, families across Dorset will be forced to cope with continued instability and sky high housing costs.

Campbell Robb, Shelter chief executive, said: “Nearly 95 per cent of homes on the market are off limits for a typical family in the South West, and this is nothing short of a scandal.

“Decades of failing to deliver the homes we need is leaving millions trapped in expensive and unstable private renting, or in their childhood bedrooms, with barely a hope of saving for a home of their own."

“It’s no wonder that a week out from election day, affordable housing is a key concern for those heading to the polling booths.”

The Echo has spoken to the five main political candidates for South Dorset to find out their views on the figures (see below).

Meanwhile, Weymouth and Portland Borough Council’s housing spokesman Cllr Kevin Brookes said: “We haven’t built enough houses in Weymouth and Portland or Dorset overall due to the recession, but things are beginning to improve.

“We are hampered by high house prices and a seasonal, low wage and low skilled economy. But we can play our part locally by approving planning applications for more homes and making Weymouth and Portland as accessible to developers as possible.”

Shelter helps four million people a year fight bad housing and homelessness. For more details visit shelter.org.uk/advice.

 

Liberal Democrat candidate Howard Legg said the statistics show that affordable housing is a huge problem across the county and is something that needs to be tackled.
He said: “We have had this problem for decades in Weymouth and Portland and across the South West. There would be two main things I would do to tackle this problem. Firstly I want to concentrate on having more affordable housing in development blocks and private developments. Secondly I would like to increase the earning power. I would like to see the wages go up and by doing this it will make houses more affordable. Weymouth and Portland is known as a high cost area with a low cost wage. This has to be tackled. It is in our control to increase wages and this can help tackle the issue of affordable housing.”

Conservative Richard Drax said: “Living in a beautiful place like South Dorset is a double-edged sword; property prices are generally higher, making the house price to incomes ratio unmanageable for anyone on an average salary.
“We’ve promised 275,000 more affordable homes under the next Conservative government and 200,000 new starter homes - which will be 20 per cent cheaper than the market price and available only to those under 40.
“Specifically, since 2010 in Weymouth and Portland we have already built 272 affordable homes, 264 more than Shelter claims. A further 121 are planned between now and 2018 and many more are in the works. We are allowing local communities to decide upon local and neighbourhood plans to meet local housing needs." “Our plan is working; for all our sakes, we must continue it.”

Labour's Simon Bowkett said: “These figures are not surprising. We know from recent hustings that housing is an important issue in Dorset.
“Dorset residents are particularly concerned about the average wage compared to the average price of a home.
“But we are equally as concerned about affordable rented accommodation.
“From Labour’s point of view, we have committed to building 200,000 new homes every year in the lifetime of the next parliament.
“We want to waive stamp duty for first-time buyers for houses up to £300,000.
“We want to reform the private rental market, make three-year tenancies the norm and put a ceiling on rents so they do not exceed inflation.”

Green Party candidate Jane Burnet said: “The difference between the average house price and the average income in Weymouth and Portland is one of the highest in the country.
“The Green Party is the only party that makes it clear that councils should be allowed to build social homes for rent, because that’s the only way to create affordability.”
If councils built and owned the houses and rented them out, the rents would be kept low, Ms Burnet said, adding that the taxpayer would therefore save billions of pounds in Housing Benefit that was currently going to private landlords.
She said: “We would allow councils to build 500,000 social homes for rent in the next five years.”

Ukip’s Malcolm Shakesby said: “To fix the housing problem we need to relax planning regulations on brownfield sites that could be developed for more housing.“There are also a lot of empty properties in South Dorset. There needs to be some incentive from central government making funding available for landlords to make their houses habitable.

“We also need to free up houses where two people are still living in three or four bedroom houses.
“In rural areas, lots of young people want to move away from home but just can’t afford to do so. We also need to be more flexible in the type of houses we are buying. Bricks and mortar building is still an expensive way to build houses.”

 

A WOMAN says she has been forced to live on a caravan site because she cannot afford to live anywhere else in the borough.
Dawn Asher can’t afford rent for a house yet let alone buy a property.
Dawn, 35, moved to Weymouth last year and lives with her partner, who is working.
Dawn, who currently claims Jobseeker’s Allowance, was living with her partner’s mum until the landlord asked her to leave the property because of her dog.
She said: “My partner drove around for two days trying to find us somewhere to live. Eventually we found a caravan site in Nottington with rents we could afford.
“We’ve been looking to rent a two-bedroom house since September 2014 but we cannot afford the rent prices in Weymouth or Portland.
“We could pay £550 monthly at a push but most properties were asking for at least £100 more than that.
“Even if we could pay some of the rents, we couldn’t then afford to live or eat properly.
“And if we can’t even afford to rent, buying a house here seems impossible. I don’t know how the government expect people to live like this.”