Harrogate housing the most unaffordable in Yorkshire

The average house price in the area is 10 times the average salary, meaning the idea of owning a home is a pipe dream for many.

The mean average house price in Harrogate is £271,935, 10.6 times the average salary of £25,714.

As people struggle to buy properties, privately rented homes are also becoming increasingly unaffordable, with average rents in Harrogate now topping £800.

Daniel Klemm, external affairs manager for the National Housing Federation in Yorkshire and the Humber, said:

“Every part of Yorkshire and the Humber is experiencing its own local housing crisis, and we need to take action to improve the situation for hard pressed workers and families as well as their children in future.

“It’s taken us a generation to get into this housing crisis and will take us a generation to get out of it. Successive governments have failed to tackle the country’s major housing challenges and the British public agree. Seven in ten think the Government should play a role in improving accessibility to housing. We are calling on the next Government to commit to end the housing crisis within a generation and to publishing a long term plan within a year of taking office next May detailing how they will do this.”

The report blames the region’s affordability crisis on the housing shortage in Yorkshire and the Humber.

Over the next 20 years, 369,000 new households are expected to form, but current building rates continue, the region will face a shortfall of 200,000 homes by 2031. This means the cycle of rising housing costs will continue for the next generation.

Are you affected by this issue? Contact reporter Laura Hill - email [email protected] or call 01423 707 506.