"Only 43 affordable London homes" claims Shelter

The housing charity Shelter claims that there are only 43 truly affordable homes on sale across all of London.

That number “would be even lower if it didn’t include house boats (selling for up to £165,000) and a mobile home (£125,000)” says new research from the charity.

It claims that in 10 per cent of London boroughs there are “absolutely no homes for sale that are affordable for families earning a typical wage” while across England as a whole more than 80 per cent of properties on sale are unaffordable for first time buying families. 

“Over 80% of homes on the market are off limits for a typical family, and this is nothing short of a scandal. Decades of failing to deliver the homes we need is leaving millions trapped in expensive and unstable private renting, or in their childhood bedrooms, with barely a hope of saving for a home of their own”  says Shelter chief executive Campbell Robb.

“For the next government, whoever that may be, it’s time for the talk to stop and the work to begin. Politicians need to act swiftly to deliver the plan that will build the 250,000 homes a year we need, or millions more people will be forced to kiss their dreams of a stable and affordable place to live goodbye” he claims.

Across England only 17 per cent of homes for sale are affordable for families that need at least two bedrooms, and only seven peer cent are affordable for larger families looking for homes with three bedrooms or more, Shelter states.