Telford house prices continue to rise - more people approaching council for homelessness help

HM Land Registry figures for July show that the average property of a home in the borough was £225,099 – a rise of 5.2 per cent on the previous year.

The average property price for a first-time buyer has risen by 4.8 per cent in the last 12 months and now sits at £183,244. The average price of former owner-occupiers who are purchasing properties stands at £255,814.

The price of detached homes in the borough has risen 6.8 per cent in the last year with an average property now costing £356,756.

Semi-detached properties have increased to an average price of £201,974 – a change of 5 per cent in the last 12 months.

The price of terraced properties have increased by 3.8 per cent in a year with the average property now costing a buyer £170,436.

Meanwhile, the average flat now costs £100,379 – an increase of 1.6 per cent in the last 12 months.

Despite the interest in mortgage rates increasing over the 12 months there has been an increase in 5.4 per cent.

This comes as Telford & Wrekin Council have announced that during the financial year 2022-2023 a total of 3,479 people approached their housing solutions team presenting as homeless and received support – an increase of 510 people from between 2021-2022.

Of those 929 were ‘prevented or relieved’ from becoming homeless and another 1,144 were ‘owed a homelessness duty’ and received further advice and support.

A Rough Sleeping Taskforce, with the help of partners, offer emergency accommodation to those rough sleeping or facing rough sleeping.

The Next Steps and Rough Sleeper Accommodation Programmes have enabled the council to buy 23 empty or disused properties to provide personalised supported accommodation for people who have experienced rough sleeping and are ready to commit to a tenancy agreement.

The council have released the figures to coincide with World Homeless Day on Tuesday.

Councillor Richard Overton, the council’s deputy leader and cabinet member for homes and enforcement, said: “World Homeless Day is an excellent platform to highlight homelessness and how we are supporting members of our community who have nowhere to live.

“We have seen an increase over the last four years in the number of people of approaching us for support and guidance.

“However, we are making great strides to prevent homelessness in the first instance and more people are now being preventing or relieved from becoming homeless than they were in 2019-20.

“Having a safe place to live is something many of us take for granted but lots of people in our borough need support and we remain committed to supporting local people, giving them the stability they need and a place they can call home.”

Anybody who is concerned about rough sleeping or faces homelessness can call Telford & Wrekin Council’s Housing Hotline on 01952 381925.