House prices more than 18 times average wage
08-21-2014
By Cornish Guardian
HOUSE prices in Fowey are more than 18 times the average annual wage of people working in the area, a survey has revealed.
The average wage in Fowey is £17,374 while the average house price is £324,912, meaning many local people are finding it impossible to get a foot on the housing ladder.
MP Stephen Gilbert said: "There is absolutely no doubt that we need to do more to make houses affordable for local people.
"Everyone accepts there is a need for more housing as a lot of people are priced out of the housing market but what we need to do is build homes in the right places where local people think is appropriate and where there are facilities."
However, Conservative prospective parliamentary candidate Steve Double said he would like to see the problem tackled by pushing up the average wages people were earning rather than by building more houses.
He said: "I think it's one of the biggest issues facing young people in mid- Cornwall.
"In the long term we've got to boost the economy and increase wages.
"We've built more and more houses over the past 30 years and it hasn't solved the problem.
"You could even argue it makes it worse because more and more people move into the area from outside Cornwall and push up the house prices. Just building houses isn't the answer; you have to find a way to make those houses accessible to local people."
The research done by the Labour Party's Southern Taskforce shows some areas of Cornwall have even higher average house prices, Padstow topping the table with a wages-to-house prices ratio of 22 and an average price of £381,812.