A WORKER on average earnings in West Devon now needs a 145% pay rise to afford a mortgage, reveals a new report from the National Housing Federation.

The South West Home Truths 2017/18 report reveals the average home now costs around £253,836 in the West Devon local authority, which is 11 times the local typical salary, making home ownership impossible for many.

The report also reveals:

• The cost of renting privately has added pressure on people’s income. Average monthly rents now stand at £674 swallowing up around 34% of private renters’ income.

• A significant number (25%) of Housing Benefit recipients are in work, yet are still unable to afford their rent. This is higher than the England average but shows rents across the region are increasingly unaffordable.

• One of the reasons for the growing crisis is down to a large shortfall of new housing. Between 2012 and 2016, around 662 too few homes were built in West Devon.

Housing associations in the South West built over 4,200 homes in 2016-2017, and started a further 4,100. We are exploring innovative means to solve the housing crisis, including through modern methods of construction.

Nikki Knowles, external affairs manager for the National Housing Federation, said: ‘The housing market has seen a relentless rise in the gap between house prices and people’s salaries. West Devon is no exception. Attaining a mortgage is increasingly unrealistic and private sector rents make saving up that bit more difficult.

‘As this year’s Home Truths report shows, it is more important than ever for the sector to be able to deliver homes that are truly affordable. If we want to get serious about ending the housing crisis, we need to start looking at unlocking more land so we can build homes faster.’

• WEST Devon Borough Council is asking people who are looking for affordable or more suitable accommodation to complete a short questionnaire helping them to understand the housing need within the local area.

The council has said that people report that they cannot afford to buy, or rent, a home in the place where they have a personal connection. This could be the place where they grew up, where their extended family live or even where they work, due to the high cost of housing.

In West Devon, it is not uncommon for average house prices in some communities to be up to 15 times average incomes and it is recognised that the lack of suitable homes for local families has had a major impact on the energy and sustainability of local communities. This is where the Community Housing Strategy can help.

The Community Housing Strategy awarded West Devon Borough Council £250,000 to help meet the housing needs of local residents looking to buy or rent homes.

The council is inviting residents who cannot find affordable or appropriate housing within their local village or town to complete a short questionnaire telling them about the housing need in their area. This survey will help the council to understand which communities are interested in buying or renting community housing, which could then be targeted for future project development.

West Devon Borough Council will use these survey results to target key need areas and actively support community housing groups, both financially and with development resources, to progress the development of high quality homes, working in close collaboration with community groups.

This process will involve a further, more comprehensive full housing needs survey, discussions with local parish councils and community groups to discuss suitable site selection before projects can be designed, progressed through the planning process and implemented.

These homes will then be available to residents with local connections, where the cost of market housing is currently beyond their reach.

The survey is now open until Tuesday, April 3 at 5pm.

To share your views on local housing needs, please complete this link www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/5Q5SBWQ

A paper version of this survey, is available by contacting the Devon Rural Housing Team on 01392 248919.