Fewer owning, more renting in Warwick district

Figures have shown that people in Warwick district are spending more on their rent or mortgage than anywhere else in the West Midlands.

And the numbers of people privately renting in Warwick district went up from 9.5 per cent in 2001 to 16.5 per cent in 2011, according to figures compiled by the Warwickshire Observatory - compared to a rise from 6.5 per cent to 13 per cent in the county as a whole.

Thickthorn and Castle End in Kenilworth were shown to have the lowest proportion (2.4 per cent) of privately rented homes, with 63.5 per cent of people owning their homes outright and 33 per cent owning with a mortgage.

Meanwhile, a different report by the Resolution Foundation has found that the proportion of local authorities in the West Midlands where rental costs are on average higher than owning a home with a mortgage is 50 per cent, compared to 44 per cent in Great Britain as a whole.

The Labour prospective parliamentary candidate for Warwick and Leamington, Lynette Kelly, says she has also seen figures that show that people in Warwick district are spending a greater proportion of their net income on housing costs than anywhere else in the region.

She said: “Hard working people are suffering from a cost-of-living crisis that means many are still worse off than they were in 2010 because of the priorities of this failing Government.

“In Warwick and Leamington, one of the many symptoms of this crisis is the fact that residents in one and two-bedroom housing in the privately owned, privately rented, socially rented, and shared ownership sectors, are paying a higher portion of their income on housing costs than anywhere else in the West Midlands.

“The problem is particularly acute for the growing number of private renters in Warwick and Leamington.”

Mr Kelly claimed that the Conservative-led Government is “totally out of touch” with hardworking people, adding: “Warwick and Leamington needs a Labour Government to freeze energy bills until 2017, put more young people back to work, expand free childcare for working parents, cut taxes for working people on middle and low incomes and reverse the £3 billion tax cut for people earning over £150,000.

“These would be amongst my key priorities if I am elected as the MP in Warwick and Leamington.”

To see the reports, visit www.warwickshireobservatory.org /observatory/observatorywcc.nsf and www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications