THE gap between average earnings and house prices in Warrington hit a record high last year, a new study has revealed.

Charities and housing professionals say a lack of new affordable homes has fuelled a national decline in affordability over the last two decades.

Each year, the Office for National Statistics calculates housing affordability by comparing the median house price in a local authority area to the median full-time annual income of people who live there.

The higher the ratio is, the less affordable homes are to buy.

In Warrington, the average house price was £195,000 in 2020, while the average annual salary was £29,986.

That meant prospective buyers would need 6.5 times their annual salary to buy a home.

It also meant the gulf between earnings and house prices in Warrington was the largest since records began in 2002, when the house-price-to-income ratio was 4.4.

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Affordability ratios varied across the north west last year – in Trafford, house hunters spent 8.4 times their annual earnings on a property on average, while in Copeland, the ratio was just 3.0.

The ONS said affordability across England and Wales had not changed significantly from the year before, but added that it has worsened overall since 1997.

Back then, the gap between ratios in the most and least affordable areas was just 9.9. By 2020, that had risen more than triple to 33.8.

Polly Neate, chief executive of housing charity Shelter, said homeownership is out of reach for many people, especially those on lower and insecure incomes.

“We have not built enough good quality or affordable homes for decades, meaning house prices have sky-rocketed,” she said.

“With no way of buying and a chronic shortage of social homes, millions have become trapped in expensive private rentals.”

Ms Neate said that more ‘genuinely affordable’ homes are needed nationally.

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House prices have soared in Warrington since 2002 – the earliest point at which local data is available.

The median cost of a property then was £86,775, with last year's figure more than double that.

Over the same period, the median annual salary increased by £10,199 – a 52 per cent rise.

A report by the Chartered Institute of Housing says that across the UK as a whole, house prices are more affordable than at their most recent peak in 2007, but less so than compared to 1994.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said more than 243,000 homes were delivered last year – the highest number in over 30 years.

They added: “We are investing more than £12billion in affordable housing over the next five years, which will include providing up to 180,000 new homes, with half for affordable and social rent.

“This – as well as first homes, shared ownership, the Help to Buy scheme, and the new mortgage guarantee scheme – will help many more people get the keys to their own home.”