Five years rent is now equal to deposit on house in South Yorkshire

Renting a home in South Yorkshire over the last five years has cost the equivalent of around a 20 per cent deposit on a house.
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The charity Shelter says the average rent paid over five years for a two bed home in Doncaster is £26,967 - the equivalent of 19 per cent of an average first time buyer home in the borough

In Sheffield, the figure is £32,281, 23 per cent of the cost of a first time home in the city.

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The figure for Rotherham is £27,325, which would pay for 19 per cent of a first house, and the £24,711 paid in rent or a house in Barnsley would pay for 17 per cent of a home.

Shelter, which produced the research, claimed the lack of affordable housing to buy in Yorkshire was forcing people to spend thousands of pounds to live in expensive rented accommodation.

Shelter chief executive Campbell Robb said: “When just five years of rent could get you the deposit on a house, it’s no wonder that renters in Yorkshire and the Humber feel like they’re getting a raw deal, paying through the nose for something they can never call their own.

“Our drastic shortage of affordable homes is leaving millions of people stuck in their childhood bedrooms in a bid to save money, or in expensive and unstable private renting with little hope of ever saving for a home to put down roots in.

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“It doesn’t have to be this way – the Government can turn things around by investing in homes that people on ordinary wages can actually afford to buy, or rent for the long-term.”

Figures published last month suggest that 46 per cent of householders aged between 25 and 34 are now privately renting compared to less than a quarter 10 years ago.

John Healey, the Wentworth and Dearne MP and Shadow Secretary for Housing and Planning, said: “After five years of failure under Tory Ministers, there are over 900,000 more households renting from a private landlord than in 2010.

“One in four of all households with kids are now private renters.

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“Ultimately, what most renters in Yorkshire want is to own a home of their own.

“That’s why I’ve commissioned the independent Redfern Review to help Labour get to grips with the barriers to home ownership that renters face.”