Homes in Wales to become even more unaffordable as prices set to rocket over next four years

Homes in Wales are set to become even more unaffordable as house prices are set to rocket another 17% over the next four years.

According to researchers at Hamptons, an estate agency, Wales will see the third biggest house price hike in the UK, behind Scotland and the North East of England, while London will see the smallest at 7%.

The average price for a home in Wales – including flats – is currently £172,999, which would break the £200,000k barrier by 2025.

The bulk of that house price growth in Wales will happen in the next two years as prices surge another 10.5%, Hamptons said.

Further rapid growth in house prices are likely to be a cause for concern at a time when there are already calls on the Welsh Government to take action to stop people being priced out of their own communities.

Since the start of the pandemic, Wales has seen a boom in house prices as people leave cities, and working from home becomes a more viable option.

Hampton’s figures also show that the majority of sellers in Wales sold their houses for above the asking price for the first time in October of this year.

In October, 45pc of homes in England and Wales sold above their asking price, the highest proportion ever recorded by Hamptons.

Aneisha Beveridge, of Hamptons, said the issue was one of supply and demand.

“Demand from house hunters looking to move remains robust, but when combined with a significant lack of stock, this is what’s fuelling competition in the housing market,” she said.

“More homes selling above their asking price is a product of that.”

A Welsh Government consultation on council tax and non-domestic rates was launched by Climate Change Minister Julie James in July to address the impact of second home ownership seen in some of Wales’ communities.

The consultation comes to an end on 17 November 2021.

‘Very difficult’

Last week 200 people came together on Parrog beach in Pembrokeshire to call on the Welsh Government to tackle the second homes crisis in Wales.

The rally called on the Welsh Government to “treat the housing crisis as a real crisis” and not to “just conduct a consultation to discuss the issue”.

Hedd Ladd-Lewis, one of the organizers, said he had decided to organise the protest in order to get to grips with the housing problem in the area.

“I grew up in Trefdraeth and the town has changed completely,” he said.

“There is grave concern about the future of Welsh as a community language as house prices deprive local people of the right and ability to live in their communities and as more houses are bought as second homes and AirBnBs.

“There is more rent poverty as families have to pay unreasonable rent in the private sector, and which local person can afford to pay £400,000 for a terraced house? So what will the future of primary school be? We’ve seen what has happened in Abersoch recently.

“The average house in the county is £227,000, but three-bedroom houses sell for almost £400,000 in areas such as Trefdraeth.

“As the county’s average wage is £26,466 it is very difficult for local people, especially young people, to buy a house to live locally.”