Housing now unaffordable for first-timers

First-time buyers in Shropshire are no longer able to get on to the property ladder - because their wages are too low and the cost of buying is too high, latest figures have revealed.

The average house price in Shropshire has risen by more than five per cent in the last 12 months to £165,924 - higher than the UK average, according to Land Registry figures.

But county workers on average earn nearly £5,000 less each year than the rest of the country, leaving many unable to buy.

A home in Shropshire now costs almost £30,000 more than the average property in the West Midlands (£134,650).

Andrew Turner, a partner in Morris, Marshall & Poole Estate Agents, said: "There aren't enough first-time buyers. We have a lot of first- time properties on our books and we are not selling them."

The situation is unlikely to change with the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) claiming a county couple need to earn £44,894 a year to buy an average home in Shropshire.

According to the figures released by CPRE, the average wage in Telford & Wrekin is £21,518 compared to just £20,847 in the Shropshire area and a national average of £25,007.

CPRE spokesman Andy Boddington said: "Low wages and limited work and education opportunities mean that too many young people in Shropshire's rural areas are forced to leave for better employment and education."