Housing
Increasing pressure & rising house costs
A decent standard of accommodation, providing shelter, security and a base for everyday activities, is one of the most basic requirements for a reasonable quality of life. With high demand for housing in the East of England, finding an affordable home is becoming increasingly difficult and ownership beyond the reach of many.
Households in Hertfordshire
At the 1st of April 2006 there were 448,681 residential properties in the county. The majority were privately owned with the remainder owned and let by either local authorities or registered social landlords. This tenure split across all ten Hertfordshire districts (and the county) is shown below. Prices remain high in all types due to surroundings, proximity to London, transport links and scarcity of land.
% Hertfordshire Households - Dwelling Stock by District & Tenure
| LA | Local authority | Registered social landlord* | Other public sector | Private sector non RSL* | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 2006 | 2005 | 2006 | 2005 | 2006 | 2005 | 2006 | |
| BBC | 10.84 | 0.98 | 3.84 | 12.98 | 0.00 | 0.01 | 85.32 | 86.03 |
| DBC | 18.36 | 18.21 | 3.92 | 4.06 | 0.43 | 0.43 | 77.29 | 77.30 |
| EHDC | 0.00 | 0.00 | 13.90 | 13.70 | 0.10 | 0.10 | 86.00 | 86.20 |
| HBC | 0.91 | 0.41 | 19.64 | 16.20 | 0.00 | 0.05 | 79.45 | 83.34 |
| NHDC | 0.06 | 0.02 | 19.52 | 19.42 | 0.66 | 0.65 | 79.76 | 79.90 |
| SACD | 9.64 | 9.53 | 3.01 | 3.07 | 0.29 | 0.29 | 87.05 | 87.11 |
| SBC | 25.14 | 24.88 | 4.75 | 4.95 | 0.14 | 0.14 | 69.97 | 70.03 |
| TRDC | 12.35 | 12.14 | 3.11 | 3.04 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 84.54 | 84.82 |
| WBC | 13.00 | 12.80 | 3.69 | 4.50 | 0.78 | 0.11 | 82.54 | 82.59 |
| WHDC | 22.00 | 21.65 | 5.61 | 6.49 | 0.25 | 0.25 | 72.14 | 71.61 |
| County | 7.52 | 9.63 | 10.25 | 9.04 | 0.29 | 0.23 | 81.94 | 81.09 |
Source: CLG Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix return for
1st April 2005 and 2006
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Indicator HS1 - Affordable housing
The affordability of housing is an important indicator of quality of life as it determines the size, type and location of property that people can live in. Home ownership is increasingly unaffordable for a large and growing percentage of the local population.
Average incomes across the Hertfordshire local authorities 2005 & 2006
The table below shows the average gross annual earnings across Hertfordshire by place of residence.
Indicator HS1 - Affordable housing (House price/Earnings affordability ratio)
| Council | 2005 | 2006* | % change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Broxbourne | 23,238 | 24,732 | + 5.4 |
| Dacorum | 25,607 | 30,095 | +16.3 |
| East Herts | 37,630 | 43,584 | +15.2 |
| Hertsmere | 29,378 | 30,014 | + 1.7 |
| North Herts | 25,109 | 28,456 | +12.5 |
| St Albans | 36,327 | 41,051 | +10.8 |
| Stevenage | 20,928 | 23,314 | + 9.3 |
| Three Rivers | 29,346 | 33,694 | +10.9 |
| Watford | 23,563 | 26,666 | +13.7 |
| Welwyn Hatfield | 27,016 * | * | N/A |
Source: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2006
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As can be seen in the table above and graph below, whilst earnings have increased across Hertfordshire, the ability to buy a home is still difficult financially for the majority of those living in the county because of high housing prices. For example, in 2006 the average cost of a detached house was almost eleven times the average earnings of a man, semidetached 6.17 times, a terraced property 4.64 times and a flat or maisonette 3.38 times. Females faired even worse; with the price of an average detached house 21.37 times their earnings, a semi-detached 12.14 times, a terraced 9.14 times and a flat or maisonette 6.65 times the average earnings. In general the average house price was less affordable for women than men by a factor of two.
Indicator HS1 - Affordable housing
Earnings affordability ratio by gender in Hertfordshire
Source: Land Registry and Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (July-Sept 2006)
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Average house prices in Hertfordshire
Comparison of Land Registry property prices January to March 2005 and January to March 2006
| Council | Detached 2005 | Detached 2006 | Semi Detached 2005 | Semi Detached 2006 | Terraced 2005 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BBC | 412047 | 377471 | 253803 | 234964 | 198955 |
| DBC | 455790 | 479434 | 269251 | 256094 | 199701 |
| EHDC | 432778 | 446498 | 255111 | 257224 | 216948 |
| HBC | 706676 | 510832 | 261874 | 278937 | 222954 |
| NHDC | 445459 | 446567 | 228122 | 232440 | 178593 |
| SACD | 513470 | 561311 | 327204 | 322459 | 249318 |
| SBC | 336633 | 284192 | 195566 | 186791 | 157555 |
| TRDC | 515063 | 547303 | 269845 | 266370 | 211978 |
| WBC | 433414 | 510274 | 234193 | 246960 | 194748 |
| WHDC | 477417 | 485367 | 284793 | 266107 | 209193 |
| Council | Terraced 2006 | Flat/maisonette 2005 | Flat/maisonette 2006 | Overall 2005 | Overall 2006 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BBC | 193170 | 148737 | 145101 | 217581 | 211147 |
| DBC | 211328 | 149232 | 146904 | 252253 | 253494 |
| EHDC | 223738 | 157187 | 166071 | 255223 | 269373 |
| HBC | 229963 | 176652 | 181412 | 301121 | 280554 |
| NHDC | 175748 | 137388 | 134731 | 220193 | 240690 |
| SACD | 270740 | 196873 | 189839 | 308991 | 321574 |
| SBC | 153464 | 108156 | 119367 | 170964 | 167155 |
| TRDC | 219492 | 201540 | 188498 | 311186 | 318876 |
| WBC | 191115 | 165443 | 165842 | 214909 | 216722 |
| WHDC | 195566 | 139066 | 159681 | 245223 | 266499 |
Source: UK Land Registry Oct 2006
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Rented accommodation prices in Hertfordshire
Comparison of rental property prices - January to March 2005 and January to March 2006
| Council | Bedroom Rate Monthly Rent Levels June 2005 | 1 Bedroom Rate Monthly Rent Levels June 2006 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Min £ | Max £ | Average £ | No. | Min £ | Max £ | Average £ | No. | |
| BBC | 450 | 775 | 559 | 36 | 450 | 750 | 550 | 33 |
| DBC | 500 | 750 | 616 | 16 | 400 | 750 | 590 | 35 |
| EHDC | 550 | 725 | 600 | 60 | 525 | 750 | 650 | 42 |
| HBC | 625 | 705 | 696 | 22 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| NHDC | 400 | 565 | 489 | 26 | 415 | 800 | 519 | 22 |
| SACD | 525 | 950 | 737 | 38 | 575 | 900 | 662 | 43 |
| SBC | 485 | 575 | 521 | 16 | 475 | 625 | 538 | 19 |
| TRDC | 475 | 950 | 689 | 14 | 575 | 850 | 717 | 16 |
| WBC | 500 | 700 | 607 | 48 | 425 | 750 | 616 | 62 |
| WHDC | 475 | 850 | 593 | 32 | 425 | 750 | 564 | 20 |
Source: London Commuter Belt Housing Strategy Coordinator Oct 2006
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Indicator HS2 - Statutorily unfit homes
All properties need to be maintained to prevent them falling into disrepair and becoming unfit for occupation. The responsibility for carrying out maintenance lies with the owner of the property who may be a local authority, a private individual and registered social landlord or other public or private organisation. Local authorities may be able to provide loans and grants to ensure homes are of a Decent Home Standard for homeowners in financial difficulty.
Indicator HS3 - Homelessness
Each year there are more applications for council or other social housing than there are vacancies. From 2002 every local authority has had to produce a Local Homelessness Strategy setting out the objectives for providing services to homeless people, preventing the incidence of homelessness by securing appropriate advice and providing accommodation for local people. These strategies contributed to the meeting of targets to reduce rough sleeping and ending the use of bed and breakfast accommodation, except for emergency situations. Local authorities are investing in homeless prevention services to reduce new cases of homelessness by early intervention and tackling the wider causes of homelessness.
The first 2 charts show the numbers and reasons for homelessness acceptances across the county for 2005/2006 adjusted to the number per 100,000 households for each District based on 2003-mid-year estimates of households from CLG1. The highest homeless and in priority need was Broxbourne with 60 decisions made but not accepted per 100,000 and the lowest was Hertsmere. The unadjusted chart shows Welwyn Hatfield is still highest for homelessness though this fell greatly to 374.
Chart 1 - General pattern of local authority decisions - All decisions 2005/6 in Hertfordshire adjusted for No. of households in district - Homelessness Decisions 2005/06
Source: CLG P1E returns 2005/2006
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Chart 2 - Adjusted by district household numbers - Homelessness households in temporary accommodation at 31st March 2006
Source: CLG P1E returns 2005/2006
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Chart 3 - Homeless - Unadjusted for districts (actual figs) Homeless acceptances total: Year-on-year comparison 02/03 to 05/06
Source: CLG P1E returns 2005/2006
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Decent home standard
The Government's key housing target is for all housing rented from social landlords in England to meet the Decent Home standard by 2010.
A decent home;
- Meets the current statutory minimum for housing, which from April 2006 is the Housing Health & Safety Rating Standard (HHSRS)
- Is in a reasonable state of repair
- Has reasonably modern facilities and services
- Provides a reasonable degree of thermal comfort
It also should also be free of serious (i.e. category 1) hazards, the most common being cold, fire, falls, lead in drinking water pipes and old paintwork and hot surfaces that could lead to burns or scalds (e.g. fires, heaters, hot taps and cookers). Each year, local authorities estimate the number of homes in their area deemed to be unfit and seek to address the problem of those that do not meet the decent homes standard as part of their own Local Housing Strategies.
1 See www.communities.gov.uk