EADT | 04 July 2019 | Sophie Barnett
Seven of the ten cheapest places to live in Suffolk are in one seaside town, new figures reveal.
Lowestoft was ranked the most affordable place in Suffolk to buy a home in 2018 – with areas such as the High Street having an average price of £95,000, London Road North prices at £110,000, Waveney Road at £120,000, and south of Lowestoft near Kirkley priced at £125,000.
Meanwhile homes in two parts of Ipswich were also found to be some of the cheaper parts of the county.
Properties in Wherstead Road and the surrounding areas sold for an average price of £120,000, while those close to the University of Suffolk did so for £124,975.
Meanwhile at the other end of the scale there were a number of different hot spots for the most expensive areas in the county.
Topping the list as the most expensive neighbourhood with an average house price of £530,000 was Southwold – near the library and the main High Street.
Next on the list are two neighbourhoods close to the increasingly popular town of Bury St Edmunds.
Homes in Depden were an average of £515,000 and those in Higham were an average of £475,000.
Other areas with high prices include Easton near Woodbridge, parts of Aldeburgh and Thorpeness, Waldringfield, Wortham and Constitution Hill in the north of Ipswich.
Sunila Osborne, a community development officer from Community Action Suffolk who specialises in rural affordable housing, says there is a huge demand for more options for people in their local area.
She said: “We are undertaking more and more cases of those wanting to move into their local area but struggling because there is nothing affordable available.
“There is a huge need for more local housing but it’s important that the housing is what local people want to have – that’s why we focus on engaging with communities.”
Community Action Suffolk works closely with Parish Councils, local residents, housing associations, local councils and landowners to facilitate ways of meeting housing needs.
Sunila’s aim is to increase the provision of affordable housing for local needs in villages across Suffolk.
She said: “It’s so important to help keep the community sustainable with affordable housing. That’s why we encourage local landowners to sell their land at affordable prices and undertake housing need surveys to find out what people in the area are looking for.”
How have house prices changed?
Villages around Bury St Edmunds have seen some of the highest house price increases over the last 10 years.
In Honington, the average house price rose 129% over a decade, increasing from £165,000 in 2008 to £377,500 in 2018.
Just down the road in Bardwell, prices also climbed a huge 115% from £172,000 to £370,000.
On the coasts, parts of west Felixstowe and Trimley St Mary also saw steep increases to housing prices – along with Exning and northern parts of Sudbury.
Use our interactive tool above to find out the average price of a house in your neighbourhood.
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