Shropshire families face property ladder crisis
Young families in Shropshire could take 12 years to save enough money to put down a deposit on a house, new figures revealed today.
A study commissioned by homelessness charity Shelter showed young couples with a child in Shropshire faced the second worst wait in the region when it came to the length of time they would have to save to get on the property ladder.
In some cases couples could be forced to wait until their child was at secondary school before they could buy their own home.
Across the West Midlands region couples with a child are having to wait on average twice as long as childless couples to save enough to put down a deposit. Single people across the region could be forced to wait for more than 10 years to save up enough money to buy a house.
Charity officials said the dire situation was being compounded by a chronic lack of affordable housing which was pushing up prices.
Figures released earlier this month indicatied that the number of affordable homes completed in 2012/13 was 29 per cent down on the previous year.
According to Shelter's study, young couples with a young child would have to wait up to 12 years in Shropshire to put down a deposit. Only Hereforshire – where the wait is 15 years – fared worse.
The study looked at earnings, house prices, rents and spending on essentials.
