2 in 3 believe ‘affordable’ housing should cost less than £120,000 – half the Government figure

One month after David Cameron’s speech at the Conservative Party Conference, which promised the building of more affordable homes*, research from My Home Move has revealed that 2 in 3 believe affordable housing should cost less than £120,000 – half the amount stated in the Government’s Housing and Planning Bill, which is currently being debated in Parliament.

The survey carried out by independent surveyor Gorkana, on behalf of My Home Move, polled UK adults on their views regarding affordable housing. The results found that 66% believed homes should be priced at under £120,000 to qualify as affordable; while only 1% of respondents felt this figure could rise to above £250,000, bringing the definition in line with the Government’s ceiling price for homes outside the capital.

Commenting on these finding, Doug Crawford, CEO of My Home Move, the UK’s leading provider of mover conveyancing services, said:

“In his speech given on 7th October, the Prime Minister promised to build 200,000 starter homes during his tenure; houses which people could afford to buy with a capped price of £450,000 inside London and £250,000 outside the capital. While we welcome initiatives designed to increase housing stock numbers, our research shows that these homes are far too expensive for the majority of the population to consider affordable.

“Last month, our own data showed that one in 20 homes are bought using a gifted deposit. So even with an accelerated building programme to ease the shortage issue, unless these properties are capped at a much lower rate, very few families will be able to afford these ‘affordable’ homes.”

The Government’s Housing and Planning Bill 2015-16 is currently progressing through Parliament. For further details visit here