07.02.13
Shelter warns that housing is increasingly unaffordable
If food costs had risen as fast as house prices over the last 40 years, a weekly family shop would cost an average of £435, Shelter has calculated.
The charity’s new price checker aims to demonstrate unaffordable housing costs by applying the same rate of inflation to everyday items.
This comparison shows how difficult it is for young families to get onto the housing ladder; leaving them stuck between living at home with their parents or bringing up children in privately-rented housing.
Shelter’s chief executive Campbell Robb said: “The high cost of food is already a real concern for people – if prices reached these levels there’s no way we’d accept them.
“Yet when it comes to the huge rise in the cost of buying a home over the past few decades, somehow this is seen as normal – even welcome – despite the impact it’s having on a generation desperate for a home of their own.
“With more young people and families priced out, home ownership levels are already starting to fall, which in turn is driving up the cost of renting. Unless something changes, the next generation will find it even tougher to find a stable and affordable home.”
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