TUC highlights ‘affordable housing crisis’

With debt management problems worsening for millions of UK consumers, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has highlighted what it claims is a crisis in the country’s affordable housing provision.

In order to get on to the housing ladder, the average British consumers now has to take on over £100,000 more debt than was the case a decade ago, but the average wage has increased by only £7,000 a year in the same period, according to the TUC.

Moreover, certain parts of the country, including a number of London boroughs, have seen the gap between average pay and typical house prices widen dramatically, the organisation insists.

General secretary of the TUC Brendan Barber said: “Housing is by far and away the biggest cost for most people at work. These stark figures bring alive the housing crisis.

“They show just how quickly buying your own home has gone out of the reach of many working people.”

Figures form the Council of Mortgage Lenders show that debt management difficulties led to an 18 per cent increase in the number of repossessions in the UK during the first half of this year compared with the previous six months.