Census data suggests a future lack of housing for first time buyers

New data shows Birmingham’s Population is growing more than twice the rate of housing.

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Birmingham City Council have released figures from the 2021 census showing growth rates of the second city’s population size, found to be increasing at a rate more than twice as fast as new houses being erected.

Gradually, the Office for National Statistics is releasing new data collected by the 2021 census. The data released has been visualised and compared by the Birmingham City Council to breakdown demographics that constitutes to one of the most multicultural cities in the UK.

Population

In the last 10 years, the population of Birmingham has increased from 1.07 million to 1.14 million, an increase of 6.3%; however new homes have only increased by 3%, from 410, 736 to 423,456.

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Despite the population increase, birth rates continue to fall in the city. Between 2019 and 2020, birth rates fell by 3.2%, following a continual trend from 2011. The reason for the population increases despite a fall of birth rates is due to migration.

Jaswinder Didially, Head of Service of Birmingham City Council’s Education infrastructure team, said: “we are beginning to see lots of families that are new into the city and children who are new into the system, so this is not domestic migration, but migration into the city.” Which categorically conflicts figures, as the Birmingham internal birth population is decreasing yet the total population is exponentially increasing.

Housing

The national average for new household numbers stands at 6.3%, meaning Birmingham are under performing when it comes to building housing.

The council have commenced work in building new homes, already in Perry Barr and in Langley, which is due to start next year, with another four housing sites across the city which should commence in the next 5 years. This should bring an approximate 21,300 new homes into Birmingham and surrounding areas before the next census in 2031.

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However, the average cost of a house in Birmingham is £234,234, which is unaffordable to most first-time buyers.

Hannah Jennings, who recently brought her first property in Longbridge, said: “There’s definitely not enough affordable houses, particularly if you are buying on your own like myself.

“I can only go on my personal experience, but it feels like high street banks say they offer 95% mortgages, but only three, maybe four times your salary, so unless you’re on a massive salary, you would struggle to scrape a 5% deposit, meaning the houses people want are unattainable.

“I do think the Council could encourage and offer support on ‘help-to-buy” schemes, prioritising shared ownership of properties and limiting the amount of properties that big cash buyers who already own a portfolio of houses can buy.”