Eight out of 10 homes for sale in West Midlands 'unaffordable'

It claims that nearly 80 per cent of properties on the market aren't affordable for families looking to buy their first home.

The housing charity analysed asking prices for thousands of properties for sale throughout the region, and compared them with the mortgage that an average family buying their first home could afford.

That revealed only 22 per cent of home for sale are affordable for families that need at least two bedrooms, and only eight per cent – less than one in 10 – are affordable for larger families looking for homes with three bedrooms or more.

In South Staffordshire there were just 23 – less than seven per cent of homes on sale in the district were considered affordable.

In Kidderminster and Wyre Forest, Cannock and Sandwell just two in 10 homes were affordable, while in Wolverhampton and Walsall the situation was slightly better, with nearly three in10 homes affordable.

Dudley was the most affordable district on the Black Country, but more than six out of 10 homes were still out of reach for first time buyers.

In hotspots like Stratford-on-Avon there were just seven affordable properties, while in Warwick there were just five.

With just over a week until Election Day, the charity says families across the region will be forced to cope with continued instability and sky high housing costs unless there is urgent action to build more homes

Shelter also says additional research found that voters were likely to consider a pledge to build affordable homes among their top priorities when casting their vote.

Campbell Robb, chief executive of Shelter, said: "Nearly 80 per cent of homes on the market are off limits for a typical family in the West Midlands, and this is nothing short of a scandal.

"Decades of failing to deliver the homes we need is leaving millions trapped in expensive and unstable private renting, or in their childhood bedrooms, with barely a hope of saving for a home of their own. It's no wonder that a week out from election day, affordable housing is a key concern for those heading to the polling booths.

"For the next government, whoever that may be, it's time for the talk to stop and the work to begin. Politicians need to act swiftly to deliver the plan that will build the 250,000 homes a year we need, or millions more people will be forced to kiss their dreams of a stable and affordable place to live goodbye."