Only one in 20 young Brighton and Hove families can now afford to get on the housing ladder, new figures have revealed.
Just 5% of families under 40 would be able to buy a house with current house prices and mortgage rates.
And the real situation is likely to be much worse, as the study assumes they would only need to stump up a deposit of 5%, whereas much higher sums are often demanded by lenders.
Research by the National Housing and Planning Advice Unit (NHPAU) showed the average UK deposit has risen from 16% of annual income in 2000 to 64% in 2009.
And affordability worsened last year as mortgage lenders reduced the loan-to-value ratios – the amount borrowed in relation to the value of a property – they were prepared to lend at.
The study concluded: “During the past decade there has been a deterioration in the affordability of home ownership.”
Two reports from the NHPAU, Housing Affordability: A Fuller Picture, and Evaluating Requirements for Market and Affordable Housing – the latter prepared by Professor Steve Wilcox of the University of York and Professor Glen Bramley of Heriot-Watt University – provide a thorough analysis of housing affordability.
Housing charity Shelter’s director of policy and campaigns Kay Boycott said: “The housing crisis has finally spiralled out of control.
“Recent research from Shelter shows that the lack of affordable housing is having a huge impact on every part of our lives.
“One in five young people still live with their parents, 1.5 million grandparents say they are missing out on helping take care of their grandchildren and almost 2.5 million people actively put off having children, all because of high housing costs.
“Today’s shocking figures reinforce the true extent to which housing has become completely unaffordable for most ordinary people.”
In the ten years from January 2000 to December 2009, the average price of a home in Brighton and Hove rose from £90,457 to £212,068, reaching a peak of £235,391 in November 2007, according to the Land Registry.
