Average homes remain out of reach for average families

Monday 18 June 2018

New stats show an ‘average’ family income is not enough to afford a mortgage on an ‘average’ home – and that struggle has intensified over the past five years.

The findings come in the latest Housing Affordability Index, which showed that the level at which house prices were outstripping wages had soared by as much as 7% since 2012.

According to the Statistics Jersey report, being able to service a mortgage affordably means that payments should consume no more than 40% of the purchaser’s net earnings, having put down a cash deposit of 10% of the purchase price.

But while an average working household could achieve that for one- and two-bedroom flats in 2017, that became impossible when it came to houses – no matter their size.

In 2017 the Jersey Housing Affordability Index was essentially unchanged compared to 2016. Read the full report here: https://t.co/UHgbtbmFt5 pic.twitter.com/Z9mnLoVNeP

— Statistics Jersey (@JsyStats) June 14, 2018

A median-priced two-bedroom flat (£330,000) was affordable to a household with a gross income of £65,000 per year.

A median-priced three-bedroom house (£525,000), meanwhile, was out of reach in the affordability rankings for average earners, who would have to use nearly half of their yearly income on mortgage payments.

Such a dwelling only became affordable if annual household income was £103,000 or more.

Deposits for three-bedroom homes were found to stand around £193,000, but that rocketed to £423,000 with the addition of another bedroom.

In 2017 a working household with mean net income was able to service a mortgage affordably on the median purchase price of a 1- or 2-bedroom flat, but not on the median purchase price of a house of any size. Read the full report: https://t.co/gxrZcnmmx3 pic.twitter.com/CNZcEna1Oz

— Statistics Jersey (@JsyStats) June 14, 2018

Senator Sam Mézec, who was recently appointed Housing Minister, has previously pledged to look into the availability of affordable housing, as well as working to improve the island's rental market.