Telford & Wrekin house prices rise three times as much as incomes over ten years

The research found that in 2001 the average price of a home in the West Midlands was £95,015, and the average salary was £15,636. In the space of ten years the price of a home has rocketed to £171,707 – an increase of 81% - whereas wages have risen just 25% to £19,531, making buying a home increasingly unaffordable for thousands of workers.

The West Midlands has seen a 45% increase in the gap between house prices and wages between 2001 and 2011.

In Telford and Wrekin: House prices are up by 93% (from £79,035 to £152,874) where wages have increased by 25%, meaning the gap between house prices and wages has risen 54% between 2001 and 2011.

During the same period, getting a mortgage also got a lot harder, with the amount of deposit needed in the West Midlands rising by 352%. In 2001 the deposit for a typical 90% mortgage (available in 2001) was £9,502. By 2011 the amount banks were willing to lend was less, and so the deposit needed for a typical 75% mortgage leapt to £42,927.

Telford & Wrekin was also in the top five areas that have seen the greatest rise in the amount of deposit needed for a mortgage between 2001 and 2011 - up 384% to £38,219.

Gemma Duggan, West Midlands lead manager for the National Housing Federation, said:

“These shocking figures show that it is getting increasingly hard for thousands of people in the West Midlands to buy a home of their own in the current climate.

“A shortage of homes means the price to buy them is being pushed ever higher by the market, and out of reach of thousands of hard working families. Unless we start building more homes people can truly afford, to match the demand, this will only get worse.”