Property posers

Home truths over house prices

THE FACT that property prices are growing faster in Yorkshire than elsewhere will reassure all those families who view their home as a long-term investment. This is the first time in more than a decade that this county has been the top-performing region according to the Nationwide Building Society index and is indicative of this area’s resurgence in recent times.

Yet, with the average house now costing £160,263 following this 5.8 per cent spike in prices, this is scant consolation to those hard working individuals who simply can’t afford to get a foothold on the bottom rung of the property ladder. For so-called Generation Rent, the dream of home ownership has become ever more distant because they simply don’t earn enough money to put down a deposit.

Given this, it’s even more imperative that the Government promises to build a new generation of affordable homes actually start coming to fruition. Ministerial pledges are very laudable – Theresa May has cited this issue as her number one domestic policy – but the process appears designed to disappointment because it is so convoluted and denies local councils, and housing associations, the financial powers that they require to build these properties.

And, furthermore, it’s a reminder that policies on social mobility – rather than Brexit – are likely to define the longer term prospects, and prosperity, of Millennials as they face a global technological revolution that will stop for no one. If only the Tories could see the bigger picture, and the size of the prize that exists if there are firmer economic foundations for all, rather than rerunning the EU referendum.