“Even finding a decent rental property is a problem.”

It’s well known that the lack of truly affordable housing is a real issue for people living and working in Adur. Local council waiting lists are long, the private rented sector is expensive, and insecure. The average house price is higher than the UK average but the average income is lower.

We spoke to a young couple about why they hope Adur Collective Community Land Trust succeeds in owning and renting homes based on local earnings in Adur.

Chris and Kate are a young couple with a one-year-old daughter and have lived together in Adur for seven years. Kate has lived in Adur all her life. They rent a two bedroom flat in Lancing at current market rental cost of £850pcm.

Chris works full time and earns a little over the minimum wage. Kate has been able to return to her minimum wage job thanks to her family who are local and able to help with some childcare. However, they still have to cover nursery childcare costs for two days per week.

Their rental costs are currently 30% of their joint income but would rise to over 50% if Kate stopped working to have more children – possibly more if they needed to move to a larger home. These are the tough choices many young families face when there is so little affordable housing available.  

Chris said: “we would love to own our own home but even with both of us working, we are not really able to save for a deposit”. 

He added: “Even finding decent rental property is a financial challenge. I was shocked when we were looking, that we would need nearly £2,000 just to get in the door, taking into account deposits, up front rent and fees. Housing is just way too expensive”.