RESIDENTS of a seaside city with some of the UK’s fastest rising house prices have revealed that it’s not all good living there.
Locals of Southend-on-Sea, Essex, say that it has been ruined by “overinflated” costs and spiralling mortgage rates.
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The city was ranked in the top 20 areas with the largest house price growth over the last decade.
The average price of a home doubled between 2013 and 2023, according to data from the Office for National Statistics.
The Sun’s team visited the city centre to talk to local people about how they are being affected, beginning on Southend’s colourful seafront high street.
Susan Timmins, 54, who lives in the area with her two daughters, 19 and 15, said she is not being affected too badly due to her mortgage deal but others are certainly feeling the pinch.
She told The Sun Online: “Things are more difficult now…maybe in a couple of years we might have to cut back a bit.”
Jeff and his wife Beth, who moved away from the city in 2021 but were back to visit their children, were more scathing in their view.
Discussing why they moved, they said: “You get so much more for your money elsewhere.
“It doesn’t feel like the same place. It’s so overinflated.
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“There are too many people here for the town. The high street is full of empty shops. It’s no fun in the summer.
“There are gangs coming down from London. It got so dangerous. It felt like there was a stabbing every week.
“It just got busier and busier. Crime got worse. We’d just had enough.”
They added that an influx of people from London and the Home Counties, especially during the pandemic as working from home became more common, drove up prices in the area.
Jeff said: “Our house gained £100,000 in price in just 18 months. People moved from London and prices went mad.
“They just went crazy. We were lucky and made a good profit.”
However, local people are struggling to sell their homes despite the growth in demand.
Alan, 64, inherited a property from a relative 18 months ago, but has been unable to get anyone to take it off his hands.
He said: “It’s a big frustration. I’d say the prices have prevented us from selling it.”
Alan’s 25-year-old son Charlie added that prices are heading “in the right direction” for young people after the recent drop but that and increase is “bound to happen” again soon.
Meanwhile, in nearby Leigh-on-Sea, Chris Burton, 58, is selling his home after 16 years.
The property has been on the market for 10 months but is yet to sell.
Chris explained: “It’s not been good…three offers have fallen through due to mortgage issues.
“The mortgages aren’t great, but it seems like prices have settled down a bit.”
He added that he is being forced to downsize by “the mortgage and general cost of living“.
However, while a combination of prices and rising rates are forcing him out, he worries that the prices are still too high for young people, meaning the market is being strangled.
Likewise, Gabrielle, who lives in the same area and put her home up for sale a month ago, said: “It’s definitely harder to sell than it would have been a year ago. It’s expensive in this area. We’ve just got to soak it up.
“It’s been slow. There’s a slower market for higher priced homes.”
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