South West house prices rocket over past ten years
Liberal Democrat MPs from Devon and Cornwall today attended the launch of the HBOS Rural House Price Index to find all but one of the top six fastest growing English rural constituencies for house prices over the past ten years in terms are in the south west.
The House Price Index which is published on a bi-annual basis revealed that North Cornwall is the fastest growing English constituency for house prices with average house prices rising from ?50,864 in 1994 to ?211,647 in 2004; a 316% growth rate.
The new report also outlines an increase in the cost of owning and running a house by 5% in 2003/4 to ?5,948. This increase is largely due to increases in council tax bills and utility bills, water bills are obviously a major factor in the south west.
Furthermore the report analyses the likely effects on households following council tax revaluation and notes that south west households are likely to be moved to a higher band if full house price indexation is implemented.
Finally the report concludes that while the number of second homes is increasing in rural areas, currently making up 1.4% of the housing stock compared to 0.3% in urban areas; social housing is significantly less prevalent in rural areas.
In response to the report Nick Harvey MP for North Devon stated;
"Seeing my constituency down on paper as the fourth fastest growing English rural constituency for house prices has brought it home to me how dramatically the social tapestry is changing in the south west."
"We currently have an absurd situation where there appear to be more second homes in the south west than council houses. The potential council tax re-banding process looks set to make home ownership even more expensive for people in the south west, we need to act fast to stop these rocketing costs."
Matthew Taylor, MP for Truro and St Austell added:
"Average house prices in my constituency have risen from £50,000 in 1994 to more than £200,000 in 2004 – they're more than ten times the average local wage. People in Cornwall are being hit with some of the highest house prices in rural areas, alongside rocketing water bills and unfair Council Tax. It's time Ministers tackled the shortage of affordable housing properly. Brown-field sites owned by local authorities must be freed up for the construction of new homes, ring-fenced for local people. Planning permission should also be required before properties can be sold off as second homes. Only then will we see any real alleviation for the current crisis."
