Horsham eighth most expensive place for first-time buyers outside London

This is according to figures based on the ratio between the cheapest properties and lower average incomes and compiled by the National Housing Federation (NHF), which represents independent non-profit housing associations in the United Kingdom.

Of all authorities outside of London only Elmbridge in Surrey, Chichester, Surrey’s Tandridge, Three Rivers in Hertfordshire, Cotswold, East Dorset, and Mole Valley have a higher ratio.

In the Horsham district the lower quartile house prices (£218,000) are more than 18 times the lower quartile earnings (£11,674).

According to the NHF decades of successive governments have failed to build enough homes, which has meant that demand for homes has far exceeded supply, driving up house prices and causing home ownership to fall to a 29-year low.

Henry Gregg, assistant director of communications and campaigns at the NHF, said: “If the new Government doesn’t urgently address the chronic shortage of housing, young people and families will continue to be locked out of ever owning a home in future.

“Younger people, especially those whose parents can’t help financially, can find themselves stuck living in their childhood bedrooms or paying high private rents that make it almost impossible to find a home that is genuinely affordable.

“That’s why we are backing the Homes for Britain campaign, calling on the new government to publish a long term plan to end the housing crisis, which addresses all aspects of the market, within its first year of office.”

In a YouGov poll the NHF found that an overwhelming 87 percent of 18-34-year-olds said it was difficult for their generation to get on the housing ladder in Britain.

Are you a first-time buyer struggling to get on the property ladder in the Horsham district? Share your comments below or email the newsdesk.

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