Key workers in the UK cannot afford to buy homes
The Halifax report last week announced that public sector workers such as teachers, nurses, police and firefighters cannot afford to buy homes in seven out of 10 UK towns. The report stated that while property was most unafforable in London and the South-East, the gap between wages and property prices was also growing in other areas of the country.
Of 517 towns and local authorities surveyed by the bank, 363 (70%) were deemed unaffordable. In 2002, just over a third of towns were beyond the means of public sector workers looking to buy property, last year that figure rose to 65%.
While these figures are dire reading for first time buyers, a silver lining for anyone in our industry is the fact that there has never been more need for an extra income in most households. A job is unlikely to provide enough income for most people to get onto the housing ladder and so home based businesses such as Kleeneze are going to boom over the next few years. Proff again that this is the ‘right place, at the right time’.