As more babies are being born to
Warrington mothers, this increase will continue to add pressure to the over-stretched
Warrington property market – and materially affect the local property market in
the years to come.
On the back of eight years of ever
incremental increasing birth rates, a significant 4.06 babies were born for every new home that was built in the
Warrington area in 2016.
I believe this has and will continue to
exacerbate the Warrington housing shortage. This means demand for housing (be it to buy or rent) has remained
high. The high birth rate has meant
Warrington rents and property prices have remained resilient and they will
continue to remain high in the years to come – even with the challenges the
economy has felt over the last eight years.
Increasing
Birthing Rates
This ratio of births to new homes has
reached one its highest levels since 1945.
Back in the early 1970s, the average was
only one and a half births for every
household built.
· The latest figures show the Warrington area had an average of 62.7
births per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44.
· Interestingly, the national average is 61.7 births per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44.
The number of births from Warrington
women between the ages of 20 to 29 is close to the national average, but those
between 35 and 44 were slightly lower. Overall,
the birth rate is still increasing. When that fact is combined with the
ever-increasing life expectancy in the Warrington area, the high levels of net
migration into the area over the last 14 years and the higher predominance of
single person households…
This can only mean one thing: a huge increase in the need for
more housing in Warrington.
Demand
VS Supply
More and more tenants are having
children because they feel safe in rented accommodation. Renting is becoming a choice for Warrington
people.
The planners and politicians of our
local authority, central Government and people as a whole need to recognise
that with individuals living longer, people having more children... demand
for property is simply outstripping supply. Whilst divorce rates have
dropped recently, they are still at a relatively high level (meaning one
household becomes two households).
The simple fact is: more
Warrington properties need to be built.
Green Belt Land
Only 1.1% of the
Country is built on by houses. Now I am
not suggesting we build tower blocks in the middle of the Cotswolds, but the
obsession of not building on any green belt land should be carefully
re-considered.
Yes, we need to build
on brown field sites first, but there aren’t hundreds of acres
of brown field sites in Warrington. What’s more, what brown field sites there
are, building on them can only work with complementary public investment. Many such sites are contaminated and aren’t
financially viable to develop, so unless the Government put their hand in their
pocket, they will never be built on.
I am not saying we should crudely go ‘hell for leather’ building on our Green Belt, but we need a new
approach to enable some parts of the countryside to be regarded more positively
by local authorities, politicians and communities and allow considered and
empathetic development.
Society in the UK needs to look at the green belts outside
their leisure and visual appeal, and assess how they can help to shape the way
we live in the most even-handed way.
Interesting
times!
If you would like more information about the Warrington
property market, email me on manoj@hamletwarrington.co.uk or call on 01925 235338. If you are in the area, feel free to pop into the
office – we are based on 6 Bankside, Crosfield St, WA1 1UP. There is plenty of free parking
and the kettle is always on.
Don't forget to visit the links below to view back
dated deals and Warrington Property News.
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