Average rent up to nearly £1,000 in Plymouth
BBCHuge increases in rents and a shortage of supply have led to a housing crisis in Plymouth, according to councillors and a housing charity.
Latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show average private rents in the city have shot up by more than 30% in the last five years from £740 in March 2021 to £975 in March 2026.
A housing charity boss said the leap in costs, combined with a cost-of-living crisis, meant more and more people were struggling to find somewhere to live.
Ahead of the Plymouth City Council elections on 7 May, we find out what people want to see in Plymouth and what sort of vision political leaders have for the city.
Victoria Allen is CEO of Plymouth Access to Housing - a charity set up to help people into private rented accommodation.
She said: "It's really hard at the moment - particularly for people who are on low incomes.
"There is a definite shortage of supply of genuinely affordable housing for people."
There are more than 7,000 people on the Devon Home Choice waiting list for social housing in Plymouth.
Allen said: "It's really tough. Rents have escalated while salaries and the amount people have in their pockets is being hit really hard by the cost-of-living crisis.
"Every time an affordable, decent rental does come up, more and more people are going for it and that means there's so much competition that people on the lowest incomes or who perhaps have the biggest challenges in life, just aren't able to access the housing they need."
There are major plans in the pipeline to deliver more than 10,000 homes in the city centre amid claims Plymouth is about to experience the biggest regeneration since it was rebuilt after World War Two.
Plymouth was knocked out of the running for having "new town" status for its city centre development plans but is working with the government's housing and regeneration agency, Homes England, which has bought four large derelict sites in the city.
The city already has the tallest building in the South West - the 23-storey Bickley Point - and the latest plans for Plymouth include establishing taller buildings in what is referred to as "densification".
Allen said it was crucial that in any plan for new city centre homes there was "a good proportion of genuinely affordable housing".
When developers make planning applications to local councils a certain percentage of affordable housing is negotiated but that can be about 80% of the market rate both for rentals and house purchases.
Out in Plymouth city centre, work is continuing on getting the regeneration of Armada Way completed in time for its planned reopening in the summer.
Jenni Massey, a healthcare worker, said: "You can see how many homeless people there are here on the streets."
She does not believe thousands of new homes in the city centre will necessarily bring rents down.
Massey said: "I don't think it's going to help with the pricing.
"Five or six years ago the rent was a manageable price. You've got the rent, the food, the electricity bills and all the prices have gone really high."
Sian Ridpath was previously a landlord in Plymouth for about 20 years but said the housing situation had "changed dramatically".
She said there was a lot of pressure on social housing because of a lack of private rentals and said changes such as the introduction of the Renters' Rights Act had made it less attractive to be a landlord.
Ridpath said: "There just isn't the incentive now and it's a real shame because a lot of landlords want to genuinely provide good accommodation for families that's affordable.
"Now it doesn't feel like we're able to do that because there have been so many changes in the law."
Labour is currently in control of the city council and there are 19 seats out of a total 57 seats up for grabs in the elections on 7 May.
The BBC asked the leaders of all of the main parties what their vision was for the future of housing in Plymouth.
Tudor Evans, leader of the Labour group, said: "A city our size - 270,000 - should have at least 10,000 people living in town and the area of the city centre given to housing is only 8% at the moment - that's way lower than any comparable city."
He added: "There are four or five projects right now that are under way - it's not about optimism for optimism's sake, it's actually now really happening."
Andy Lugger, leader of the Conservative group, which is currently the main opposition party, said: "If there's grant money available and we have got the support as a council of Homes England it makes sense to build in the inner city.
"The only reservation I have is infrastructure and services - people will need to park their cars, people will need local amenities such as doctor's surgeries, dental surgeries and suchlike."
Reform now has two councillors on the city council, both as a result of defections.
The party's group leader, Steve Ricketts, said: "Anything we do in our precious city centre needs to be done carefully and we just want to be realistic about what we can achieve.
"Houses are so important but so is retail space, so is commercial space, so is office space - so it's about getting that mix and getting the right balance."
The Green Party also has two sitting councillors and group leader Lauren McLay wants to see a new approach to housing focussing on affordability.
She said: "One thing we want to do to address that is bring in rent controls so that prices stay in line with local wages.
"The second thing we need to do is to get councils building again because at the end of the day private property developers will only see housing as a bottom line."
Stuart Bonar, chairperson of the Liberal Democrats in Plymouth, said there was pressure on housing markets for people buying or renting.
He said: "I think it's right that most of those houses do come into the city centre - there are benefits in terms of the night-time economy, having more people here into the evening which makes it safer.
"There's also a lot of potential here above shops to build in houses to buildings that are already here."
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