LONDON HOUSING STRATEGY

London Housing Strategy

London Housing Strategy

A housing strategy is a plan that involves a variety of methods or a series of manoeuvres designed with the purpose of building a housing plan. What one needs to know is that creating a good strategy implies to subordinate the efforts to a series of goals and objectives. Otherwise, the process can end up with no results. As a reference source (Housing Strategy for London) points out, each participant has to have a certain role. This way, the task is approached in a comprehensive way. Needless to say that, due to the complexity of modern day communities, there isn't a single option when it comes to such a strategy. In order to elaborate a comprehensive housing strategy, one has to gather all the separate housing policies and draw the essentials that apply to a more general framework, appliable to a whole community. Thus, the strategy will have an integrated body, approaching more aspects than an individual housing plan does. In general, the main aspects dealt with are housing supply, affordability and quality to guarantee that persons of all income levels can afford and have access to it. In this essay we will discuss London Housing Strategy and its different aspects and housing problem, needs and affordability.

House Prices and Affordability

House prices and affordability raise considerable challenges for all local authorities and Bury is no exception. Between December 2000 and December 2007 the average house price in Bury (based on sales and valuations) rose from £60,000 to £155,000, a massive increase of 158%.However, by March 2008 they started to fall as a result of the economic downturn. Nevertheless the fall in house prices has been insufficient for people on low incomes and it has become increasingly difficult for many people, particularly first time buyers to find a home they can afford. The graph below shows the average property price over time for all types of housing in Bury The lower quartile price is currently £94,600 (based on sales and valuations over the last three months - Feb 2010), compared to a regional average of £97,500 (Home track, 2011). In terms of affordability based on typical mortgage lending at 3.5 times joint income, households in Bury would need an average income of £27,000 to get on the property ladder. However, a large proportion of people living in the Borough currently earless than £27,000 and would not be able to purchase an average starter home (see map in figure 1 below). This suggests that there is a considerable need for intermediate affordable housing.

Average House Prices to Earning Ratio

For a single person in full time employment the average price for all house types to earnings ratio in Bury is currently 4.9:1, based on data from the latest Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings and sales and valuations over the last 12 months. The regional house price to earnings is 5.7:1. Even for cheaper housing in Bury the price to earnings ratio is currently 4:1compared to a regional average ...