How starter homes in Norfolk are getting less affordable for the young

The data shows how first time buyers are being increasingly priced out, as earnings fail to keep up with the ballooning price of properties.

The new analysis shows the 'affordability' rating for properties for young people has dramatically decreased in every part of the county over the last decade.

The least affordable area is Broadland, where average earnings are £35,160 and but the average starter home costs £265,556.

Boats on the River Bure at Acle during a heatwave in July.Picture: James Bass

Meanwhile, separate figures show how the average age of those buying their first home is also rising across the region - from 30 in 2011 to 32 in 2021.

Experts from the Resolution Foundation think tank said the statistics showed that "far too many young people" are being left "without the financial means to get on the property ladder".

The plight of first time buyers has been the topic of sharp debate in recent days after the broadcaster Kirstie Allsopp suggested young people would be better placed to afford a property if they quit Netflix, gym memberships and coffee.

The analysis - using data sourced by Halifax - calculates the 'affordability' rates for different districts by comparing the average price paid by first time buyers with the average earnings for that area.

While Broadland had the worst affordability ratio, the changing picture in South Norfolk was especially dramatic.

In the latter district, the affordability of starter properties has decreased by 69pc in the last decade.

In Great Yarmouth, first-time home prices were the lowest in the county at £185,221.

A charity fears places like Great Yarmouth will miss an opportunity to level up unless the government changes how it assesses need. (Image: Archant)

But even in Yarmouth - which according to another source contains the cheapest first-time homes in the whole of the east of England - earnings failed to keep up with house prices, and affordability decreased by 41pc in the last decade.

The data does not include North Norfolk, due to the survey failing to collect a minimum sample size in that district.

The average first-time homebuyer’s deposit in the east - £55,250 - is meanwhile slightly higher than the UK average of £53,935, but nowhere near the stratospheric height of a London deposit: £115,759.

The data comes amid growing concern over the challenges facing young people trying to get their first home.

Lindsay Judge, research director at the Resolution Foundation, said: “Youth homeownership has halved over the past three decades, as house price growth has far outstripped pay growth.

"This has left far too many young people without the financial means to get on the property ladder, and while some have turned to the Bank of Mum and Dad, that option simply isn’t available to many young families.”

The Halifax survey also shows that homes became more affordable in the last decade, or stayed the same, in just three local authorities across the UK - and all of them are in Scotland: Clackmannanshire, Moray and East Ayrshire.

The greatest deterioration in affordability was meanwhile seen in the London borough of Merton, where affordability has worsened by 108% in the decade since 2011.

The data

Ratio of average cost of first time home against average earning in each district (and average 2021 first-time house price in brackets):

Breckland - 7.1 (£232,735)

Broadland - 7.6 (£265,556)

East Suffolk - 6.8 (£233,464)

Great Yarmouth - 5.8 (£185,221)

King's Lynn and West Norfolk - 6.3 (£211,166)

Norwich - 6.0 (£229,180)

South Norfolk - 7.0 (£255,600)

Analysis: The true cost of ever-higher house prices

The seemingly ever-growing gap between earnings and house prices brings dangerous implications for social cohesion.

The problem is two-pronged and caused both by low wages and a failure to build enough houses in the places that people most want to live.

At a personal level, some young people are lucky enough to get financial help from their family, but many are not.

At a local level, there are small fixes that councils can introduce, such as taxes on second homes, and covenants placed on new developments so that they are at least partly reserved for local people.

But the biggest changes can only be made at a national level, where the ruling Conservative party faces a dilemma in trying to serve both of its two very different voter bases: traditional, affluent constituencies in the home counties, and the so-called 'Red Wall' seats in the north and midlands.

One proposed set of changes, which would have dramatically increased the number of homes in high value, rural areas in the south-east, was dubbed a “mutant algorithm” by Tory MP Phillip Hollobone, and scrapped.

It has since been replaced by a new set of proposals to encourage more homes in the north and midlands, and fewer new homes in Tory shire constituencies.

Reaction: the frustration of would-be first time buyers

The difficulties facing young people trying to get on the housing ladder have been the focus of sharp debate in recent days.

Location, Location, Location presenter Kirstie Allsopp said she felt "enraged" when young people say they can't afford to buy a home.

The presenter suggested that people wanting to save for a deposit would be better off cancelling subscriptions for streaming services, gym memberships and holidays - adding that unlike in her youth these are now seen as "standard".

She said: “It is hard. We've fallen into the trap of saying it's impossible for everybody. It's about where you can buy, not if you can buy."

But young people in Norwich criticised her comments.

Filmmaker Hollie Harrington-Ball, 34, responded: “This is an unhelpful and frankly toxic mentality.

Hollie, 34, from Earlham wants to encourage people to speak up. (Image: Hollie Harrington-Ball)

"You hear it a lot from people who had it a lot easier with the housing market."

Cathy Wilson, 28, said: “There's an element of cutting back when needed but not everyone has parents to move back in with while they save.

Cathy Wilson, 28, said banks should be doing more to work with people who have proven they can pay a mortgage by paying rent. (Image: William South)

"On top of that most people are paying larger payments each month in rent than a mortgage would be.”

Nicholas Baker, 27, who lives in the north of the city, said: "I have a mortgage and that's through a combination of luck and parental help.

"Without that I would never have been able to buy. Even with this help, my home is a tiny flat worth less than £140,000."

Lewis Aves, 24, from Costessey, said: "It’s the borrowing power that’s the issue - especially for people buying houses on their own.

"House prices have gone up massively in relation to salary. I’m on a pretty fair salary for someone my age and didn’t go to uni so have no other debt.

"The maximum I could borrow on my own is £110,000. With most 1 or 2 bed houses in Norwich being £180,000-£210,000 that means potentially £100,000 deposit."

Additional reporting by Sophie Skyring