Housing Market

The volume of housing sales fell sharply in 2008 and 2009. Since then the numbers of properties being sold has increased steadily, buoyed in recent years by increasing amounts of new house building.

In 2018/19 there were 322 new affordable homes completed through planning, and 1,826 private homes. Combined, house completions rose 19% compared to the previous year and remained at considerably higher levels than the longer-term average.

In 2017/18, 41% of dwellings were built on previously developed land (brownfield). This was below the target of 65% for dwellings and the target of 40% for employment floorspace.

The Local Development Framework (LDF) Annual Monitoring Reports provide detailed information about housing and commercial building development over the past year.

Affordability (to buy)

In the 12 months to the end of September 2017, the median house price was £144,995, representing an annual price increase of 7%. The lower quartile house price was £107,500, representing an annual price increase of 8%.

In 2002, the median house price was 3.5-times the median gross earnings of people working full-time but by 2005 the ratio had risen to 5.6-times (based on earnings of residents). Over the last five years the median price/earnings ratio has increased gradually, but not as much as seen across England as a whole. The lower quartile price/earnings ratio has fluctuated more and has also increased gradually over the past four of five years.

In 2018, over 80% of new properties sold were priced over £150,000. (This excludes sales of properties below full market rates, e.g. S.106 sales to social landlords). In the same year, data from building societies showed that in the Yorkshire and Humber region the average first-time buyer put down a 15% deposit on their first house purchase (around £21,000) and the overall house price to earnings ratio for first-time buyers was 6.6.

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