Priced out of the market

By Elgan Hearn, Local Democracy Reporter

House prices are too high for public sector workers in Powys, according to a union.

Owning a home has become a dream for many public sector workers in Wales and Powys says UNISON. Whose report “Priced Out” highlights how saving the money for a down payment on a property could take decades.

Powys is the fifth highest Welsh local authority area with the first time buyer average cost of £159,271.

The research focused on the salaries for employees in five jobs ­– an NHS cleaner, teaching assistant, librarian, nurse and police community support officer (PCSO). 

It calculated what multiple of their annual income they would need to borrow for a mortgage once they had paid a deposit.

Research shows that in Powys, an NHS cleaner earning £17,460 a year would need to borrow on average nearly eight times their salary to secure a mortgage for a first-time buyer property. 

A teaching assistant earning £19,446 a year would need to borrow seven times their annual wage, and a nurse earning £23,023 a year, a PCSO on ￡23,346 and a librarian on £23,866 would all need six times their pay.

The Bank of England’s maximum recommended lending limit is 4.5 times a person’s salary,

Unison assistant general secretary, Margaret Thomas, said: “Owning a home is now little more than a pipe dream for most public sector workers.

“Deposits and mortgages are quite simply way out of reach, while the spiralling cost of renting is eating up a growing proportion of the take home pay of working people across Britain. 

“Wage rises haven’t kept pace with soaring house prices and rents, and the situation looks set to worsen.”