Image source, Getty Images
- Author, Louise Parry and Laurence Cawley
- Role, BBC News in St Albans
The average cost of a house in St Albans is 17 times higher than the average annual income of its residents, making it the least affordable place to live outside of central London. What do those who can’t afford to buy a home in the Hertfordshire town want to hear from those canvassing for their vote?
Yasmine Alderman loves St Albans.
The 27-year-old mother of three (with a fourth on the way) has lived here for seven years after moving from nearby Harpenden, where she grew up.
“The kids love St. Albans,” she says. “There’s lots to do, great schools and a great community.”
“It’s a great place to live.”
However, when it comes to buying a home, the situation is less great.
Image source, Louise Parry/BBC
For people like Ms Alderman, the situation is “frustrating”.
“Prices are incredibly high right now and I don’t think there’s much out there that makes it easier to get into the property market,” she says.
“It won’t be long before I can afford a house in St. Albans.”
She wants those in power to refocus their efforts on helping people like her own homes.
Image source, Louise Parry/BBC
Alex Haddon, 28, rents a one-bedroom flat above a shop in St Albans.
Like others, he loves the city and describes it as a “bubble” that combines ancient history with a “London feel”.
“It’s a busy place with lots of young people,” he says. “I love it here. It’s a shame that it’s so expensive, but I kind of understand why.”
He doubts he will ever be able to buy a home in the city because, as a freelance video content creator, he fears property prices here will “get further and further away from” what he can afford.
He says housing costs have long been a problem. When he was at school, he and his friends jokingly referred to St Albans as “Neverland” because they “could never afford a house” there.
The closest he came to buying, he says, was when he looked at a tiny studio “like a barn” a few years ago that was on offer for around £300,000.
“Then you realize what you get for your money,” he says.
Mr Haddon said house prices were a key issue and urged those in power to “look after the younger people”.
Image source, Louise Parry/BBC
Jess Distill, who works in a cafe, is 37 and has spent her entire life – except for university – in St Albans.
Her living situation, she says, is “rather unusual.”
Her parents “left home before us,” she says, describing how they bought a canal boat in retirement and left the family home to their children.
However, when the pandemic hit, her parents returned home and Ms. Distill now lived not only with her parents, but also with her sister and brother-in-law.
“It has its advantages and disadvantages,” she says. “It’s probably quite unusual for someone my age to live at home with your parents – but for me it’s very nice financially.”
“I live rent-free,” she says. “I would like to have my own apartment, just to have a little more space and freedom.”
“But I work part-time for minimum wage, so it’s impossible for me to make a down payment on an apartment right now.”
She says she is not the only one in her circle of friends who has moved back in with her parents because of housing costs.
“I feel like we’re being told as a generation that we have to choose between finding and earning the money to buy a house or living and enjoying life,” she says.
Image source, Louise Parry/BBC
Even friends who own their own homes often worry about “where their next mortgage or rent payment is going to come from,” according to Ms. Distill.
“Many have to choose between paying their rent or mortgage and putting food on the table.
“Both the housing and job markets are very difficult.”
She wishes that “there were more housing options for young people and that these were also affordable,” she says.
“I see the term ‘affordable housing’ so often and wonder who can afford it.”
Ms Distill says she wants to make a greater effort to convert vacant buildings into housing and limit multiple home ownership.
Born and raised in St Albans, Maisy Jay has just completed her second year in Sociology and Criminology at the University of Manchester.
Although she would like to have her own home one day, she doubts that she would be able to afford to settle in St Albans in the short to medium term due to property prices there.
“Even if you could afford to buy an apartment there, the costs of everything else in general have risen so much,” she says.
Ms Jay doubts that politicians can really do much to make house prices more affordable in places like St Albans.
In her view, the only solution is to create much more housing and “pay people much more money”.
Ms Jay wonders whether technology and the increasing prevalence of working from home, which became far more common during the pandemic, could reduce future demand in popular commuter cities.
Image source, Louise Parry/BBC
In St. Albans, former office buildings have already been converted into residential space.
Chris Cooke, director of estate agents Daniels in St Albans, says these properties – which are typically 25 per cent cheaper per square metre than their city centre counterparts – have sold.
“Many of the buyers we see are people from inner London or locals who are supported by the bank of their parents and often their grandparents.
“It is a concern for the future and we are doing what we can.”
What do the parties promise?
The Conservatives would build homes, prioritising brownfield development. They would permanently waive stamp duty for first-time buyers of properties valued at up to £425,000. This threshold has been temporarily raised and is due to return to £300,000 in March 2025.
Work The government would reform planning rules and speed up development on brownfield sites and so-called “grey belts” such as car parks. It wants to expand an existing scheme that helps people get a mortgage with a smaller deposit and supports more rights for renters.
The Liberal Democrats want additional social housing and new “garden cities”. They support local authorities that want to end the “right to buy” principle for social housing, ban terminations without giving reasons, make three-year tenancies the norm and create a national register of licensed landlords.
The green They would invest in new social housing and bring vacant buildings back into use. They would set higher environmental standards for new buildings and demand more affordable housing. They support rent controls and a ban on evictions.
Reform Great Britain would speed up planning, offer tax incentives for developing brownfield sites and give tax breaks to small landlords. People born in the UK would be given preferential treatment in the allocation of social housing.
