Housing
Prices continue to grow until summer 2008
Latest Land Registry data reveals that property prices continued to rise, up until the end of the second quarter of 2008. As the county already has relatively high property prices, this will continue to impact on the affordability of homes; 4 of the county’s districts are in the top 5 least affordable areas to live in the East of England. The data also identified that just over 2% of Hertfordshire’s housing stock was vacant.
Note: the data did not include prices up to the end of 2008, now known to have been when UK economic growth reversed. This may have subsequently and substantially changed the housing market picture.
Dwellings in Hertfordshire
As at 1st April 2008 there was a stock of 457,276 dwellings in Hertfordshire. The greatest proportion of these were in the private sector; over 81% were either owner occupied or privately rented. The proportion held by Registered Social Landlords (RSL’s) rose from 9% in 2007 to 11%. The table below shows the tenure split in the county’s districts.
The Census 2001 defines a dwelling as a self-contained unit of accommodation, where all the rooms, particularly kitchen, bathroom and toilet, are behind a door that only the household can use. Communal establishments are not therefore included in the dwelling stock totals.
% Hertfordshire Dwellings Stock by District & Tenure in 2006
| Council | Local Authority | Registered Social Landlord | Other Public Sector | Private Sector non RSL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BBC | 1.28 | 12.86 | 0.03 | 85.83 |
| DBC | 17.81 | 3.98 | 0.18 | 78.02 |
| EHDC | 0.00 | 13.70 | 0.10 | 86.20 |
| HBC | 0.52 | 18.08 | 0.05 | 81.35 |
| NHDC | 0.01 | 19.29 | 0.19 | 80.51 |
| SACD | 9.34 | 3.12 | 0.29 | 87.25 |
| SBC | 24.06 | 5.49 | 0.14 | 70.31 |
| TRDC | 0.06 | 13.65 | 0.00 | 86.29 |
| WBC | 0.16 | 15.52 | 0.15 | 84.18 |
| WHBC | 20.74 | 7.11 | 0.09 | 72.06 |
| County | 7.52 | 10.96 | 0.13 | 81.39 |
Source: CLG2 Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix 2008
Indicator HS1 - Affordability of Housing
The UK government believes that everyone should have the opportunity of a decent home, which they can afford. Low affordability of housing in the market is judged as a key indicator and affordability continues to be a concern in the county.
The graph below shows the ratios of the lower quartile (25%) of house prices to the lower quartile of earnings for the last 3 years for each district in Hertfordshire. This is derived from the lower quartile figures from the Land Registry’s house prices data and the lower quartile income data from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings.
Whilst some districts saw a fall in the ratio, or for it to stay similar to 2007, overall the ratio remained at around 10 times annual income in the county. This exceeds both the national ratio at 7 times and the East of England’s ratio of 8 times annual income. Under the umbrella of the government led initiative Homebuy, several schemes exist to increase the availability of affordable homes. Homebuy offers shared ownership and equity loans to help lower income households to enter the housing market.
Ratio of lower quartile house price to lower quartile income 2006-2008
Source: Table 567: Housing market: ratio of lower quartile house price to lower quartile income by district.
Communities & Local Government Website:www.communities.gov.uk
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Average Property Prices in Hertfordshire April to June 2007 and 2008
Source: Land Registry Property Prices April to June 2007 and 2008
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Average Property Prices in Hertfordshire April to June 2007 and 2008
Source: Land Registry Property Prices April to June 2007 and 2008
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Definitions of Affordable Housing Types: PPS3 Annexe B
Affordable housing:
includes social rented and intermediate housing,
provided to specified eligible households whose needs
are not met by the market.
Social rented housing:
generally owned and managed by local authorities and
Registered Social Landlords.
Intermediate affordable housing:
is housing available at prices or rents above social
rented prices but below market prices or rents.
Source: CLG Delivering Affordable Housing November 2006
Property Prices in Hertfordshire
Land Registry data continued to show that within the county the overall average house price rise between April and June 2008 was 6.3%, compared with the same period in 2007. However, in some districts an early sign of a slowdown in the rate of price rises was seen, compared to previous years with average rises of less than 5%. The smallest percentage change occurred in Stevenage where the rise was under 1%. The biggest change was in North Herts where a rise of nearly 21% was recorded over the same period. Average price by type of dwelling continued to rise compared with the same quarter in 2007. Detached houses rose by 13% whilst flats/ maisonettes and terraced houses both rose by 5%. In England and Wales the average property price for all types of property was £219,000, compared with £305,400 for Hertfordshire in the same quarter. Overall, average house prices in Hertfordshire were 39% higher than in the rest of England and Wales.
Official rental price data not available for inclusion so instead we now investigate vacant dwellings.
Hertfordshire Average Property Prices April - June 2008
| Council | Detached | Semi Detached | Terraced | Flat/ maisonette | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BBC | £465,397 | £256,636 | £235,060 | £153,955 | £237,295 |
| DBC | £592,015 | £301,162 | £259,510 | £170,905 | £310,588 |
| EHDC | £531,899 | £346,123 | £253,988 | £174,855 | £306,456 |
| HBC | £737,656 | £359,587 | £289,651 | £262,113 | £363,053 |
| NHDC | £486,222 | £286,942 | £209,966 | £145,765 | £272,284 |
| SACD | £745,148 | £413,711 | £314,873 | £229,502 | £397,749 |
| SBC | £342,064 | £218,294 | £172,921 | £136,787 | £185,607 |
| TRDC | £760,793 | £324,448 | £269,384 | £237,402 | £387,385 |
| WBC | £512,823 | £291,628 | £237,479 | £198,629 | £240,354 |
| WHBC | £648,163 | £340,220 | £224,314 | £160,785 | £321,792 |
| County | £609,224 | £320,894 | £245,026 | £192,437 | £305,403 |
Source: UK Land Registry 2009
Vacant Dwellings in Hertfordshire
The 2007/08 Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix return shows a total of 9,280 vacant dwellings in the county, equal to 2.14% of its total dwelling stock. The private sector had 8,132 vacancies against 1,148 vacancies in other tenures. This indicates that the majority of vacancies were owner-occupied.
Although there was a fall in the number of vacant dwellings in some districts, including Three Rivers which saw a reduction from 2.63% to 1.61%, when compared to the previous year, in general there appears to be a slight rise in the number of vacant dwellings. In 2006/07 Hertfordshire had 9,145 vacant dwellings (2.02% of its total dwelling stock). A proportion of these vacant dwellings could be used to help meet the county’s housing targets.
% of Hertfordshire’s Dwellings Vacant by Tenure 2007/08 Council LA/RSL/Other Private Total
| Council | LA/RSL/Other | Private | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| BBC | 1.54% | 2.08% | 2.00% |
| DBC | 1.85% | 2.72% | 2.53% |
| EHDC | 0.55% | 3.46% | 3.04% |
| HBC | 1.19% | 2.86% | 2.55% |
| NHDC | 1.02% | 1.91% | 1.74% |
| SACD | 1.67% | 2.68% | 2.55% |
| SBC | 1.38% | 0.80% | 0.97% |
| TRDC | 1.30% | 1.66% | 1.61% |
| WBC | 2.64% | 2.67% | 2.67% |
| WHBC | 0.98% | 1.82% | 1.58% |
Source: CLG Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix return 2007-08
Indicator HS2 - Statutorily Unfit Homes
A dwelling is considered unfit if it fails to meet the requirements of the Housing Act 1985 (as amended) and as a result becomes unsuitable for habitation. Disrepair, dampness, inadequate supplies of water, heating, lighting and ventilation, lack of satisfactory kitchen and bathroom facilities, can all contribute to a property being classed as unfit. The responsibility for maintaining a property lies with the owner, whether it is a Local Authority, Registered Social Landlord or private sector property.
The English House Condition Survey was used to report progress related to the key policy areas of housing condition but from April 2008 the English Housing Survey has replaced both this survey and the Survey of English Housing. First results of the new survey are expected to be released in 2010.2
Decent Homes3
The Housing Health & Safety Rating Standard criteria for decent homes, described in last year’s report, remains relevant with local authorities and housing association homes expected to meet the prescribed Decent Homes Standard by 2010.
Indicator HS3 - Homelessness4
Every year there continue to be more applications for social housing than there are vacancies. Local authorities invest in homeless prevention services to reduce new cases of homelessness by intervening at the early stages and by addressing its wider causes. In addition, since 2002, each local authority has had an obligation to produce a Local Homelessness Strategy that sets out its objectives for providing services to the homeless and how it will prevent homelessness occurring. This includes providing appropriate advice and accommodation for local people. These strategies have contributed to the achievement of targets to reduce rough sleeping and to end the use of accommodation in bed and breakfast, except for emergency situations.
The first 2 charts show the numbers and reasons for homelessness acceptances by district for 2007/08, adjusted to the number per 100,000 households (based on 2004 mid-year estimates). The highest adjusted number of households homeless and in priority need continues to be in Welwyn Hatfield with 512. This is down from the 576 recorded last year but remains at nearly twice the next highest district, Watford, at 263 whilst Broxbourne was lowest with 3. Stevenage has the highest adjusted figure for homeless households in temporary accommodation but at 433, this continued to fall from 555 last year and 630 in 2006. Dacorum has the lowest with 40, 24 temporarily in Hostels and 16 in authority stock.
General Pattern of Local Authority decisions - All decisions 2006/7 in Hertfordshire Adjusted for No. of households in District - Homelessness decisions 2006/07
Source: CLG P1E returns 2007/2008
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Adjusted by District Household numbers - Homeless households in Temporary Accommodation at 31.03.2007
Source: CLG P1E returns 2007/2008
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Homeless acceptances total: Year-on-Year comparison 02/03 to 06/07
Source: CLG P1E returns 2007/2008
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1 The higher the ratio, the more earnings required to afford a home
2 Communities & Local Government www.communities.gov.uk
3 www.decenthomesstandard.co.uk/about/standard