'Manchester needs more affordable homes'

A housing charity demands more affordable homes for first time buyers.

Published 14th Apr 2016

First-time buyers in Greater Manchester will need to earn £44,000 by 2020 to get onto the property ladder, according to calculations from Shelter.

The charity said the average young person on the region earns around £23,000 and the amount that a first-time buyer would need to earn to get on the property ladder could be either as a single salary or from two or more people's wages combined, Shelter said.

The calculations are based on people typically needing to put down a deposit amounting to 17.1% of the property's price.

The average mortgage that is handed out as a multiple of someone's income was also factored into the calculations.

Shelter's projections for first-time buyer property prices over the next four years are based on a combination of previous academic research and official house price figures.

John Biddy, Shelter's North west spokesman, said the figures underline the need for investment in homes that people on ordinary incomes can actually afford to live in''.

PL