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House prices in the London Borough of Bexley have increased by 72% since 2000 compared with a rise in salaries of just 17%, according to figures released today by the London Housing Federation and Hyde Housing Association Ltd.
The figures show the average house price in Bexley is now 7.4 times the average salary; in 2000 the average home was five times the average income.
The average home in Bexley now costs £189,079, compared to £109,634 in 2000, an increase of £79,445. Over the same period, salaries have increased by just over £3,700, from £21,884 to £25,620. The average house price in London is now 8.8 times the average salary; in 2000 the average home was 6.6 times the average income.
The figures come from a new report, in the middle of our street, which reveals the extent of London’s housing crisis. Bexley now has more than 380 homeless households and over 4,400 households on council waiting lists for affordable housing. Across the capital, 260,000 children live in overcrowded homes.
Berwyn Kinsey, head of the London Housing Federation, said:
“Despite reports of house prices falling, these figures show that owning your own home in Bexley remains severely unaffordable, even for people on decent salaries. And many people are worse off still, living in temporary accommodation, or crammed into overcrowded homes.
“We’re glad the government has woken up to the fact that London desperately needs more affordable housing, but current levels of building do not even make up for the number of affordable homes we lose each year through Right to Buy.”
David Eastgate, Acting Group Executive for the Hyde Group said:
“These figures highlight the very real need for an increase in housing in Bexley, and Hyde is working to achieve this. We are committed to providing more affordable homes throughout London and the South East.
The Orbit Group has launched the latest affordable housing in the Thames Gateway area, investing £3.7million in housing for local people. The Orbit Group in partnership with the Hill Partnerships, BPTW Architects, Yorkon, the Housing Corporation and Bexley Borough Council, have used an off-site manufacturing system to develop these new homes.
Steel modules, made in a factory at York, arrived at the site earlier this year complete with fixtures and fittings, and with 3 ground floor flats fully fitted for wheelchair users. Lifted into position by cranes, the finishing touches have now been added. In total the Orbit Group is building 87 new homes at Stonewood Road, an investment of over £12.3million in the local housing market.
This includes 23 homes for rent and 9 homes for shared ownership already completed in Phase One of the site. Work is now due to start on the final Phase, consisting of a further 32 homes for shared ownership specifically targeted to help Key Workers in the area to get a step onto the property ladder while local house prices continue to spiral beyond their reach.
Gateway News viewed the new flats to see how they compared with standard constructed Flats. On first sight, from the outside it is quite clear there’s something different in the method of construction. The flats do not give the impression that they are as solid as perhaps a brick built flat, but overall they are well presented. On entering, it was like entering any other flat. The corridors cleverly built on afterwards, along with the staircase and lift facility. I studied the corridors hard to find defects in the joining, but it was quite impossible to see.
I ventured up into a top floor flat and was quite impressed to see that the rooms were quite sizable; very unexpected. The living room boasted an indoor balcony, which tenants lucky enough to have a river view could make the most of in the summer. The main bedroom was a moderate size and the second bedroom adequate.
Overall I was generally impressed that two portacabin sized containers or ‘modules’ as Orbit like to refer to them as , could provide so much space. All fully fitted with a kitchen and bathroom. From the inside its hard to imagine I was in a module. But it’s one thing viewing the ‘modules’ and another to live in them, perhaps the new tenants there will let me know what its like !
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