Quantcast
Menu

Editor's Pick

The most affordable places to buy a home in each region

Christina Hoghton
Written By:
Christina Hoghton
Posted:
Updated:
21/01/2022

Rising prices create a huge challenge for first-time buyers, but there are ‘relatively’ affordable areas in every region

East Ayrshire in Scotland is the most affordable place in Britain to buy a home, according to Nationwide.

The building society said that average first-time buyer house prices there are just 2.4 times average earnings.

Rest of Britain

Copeland is the most affordable area in the North West of England, despite average prices rising 11% over the last year, while County Durham has the lowest house price to earnings ratio in the North East, at 3.1.

In Wales Merthyr Tydfil remains the most affordable local authority and Barnsley is most affordable in Yorkshire and The Humber.

In the West Midlands, Stoke-on-Trent continues to have the lowest house price to earnings ratio at 3.8. Meanwhile, in the East Midlands, the district of Bolsover remains the most affordable and also lowest priced area.

On the east coast, Great Yarmouth in Norfolk has the lowest house price to earnings ratio in the East of England region. Swindon remains the most affordable area in the South West, with a house price earnings ratio of 5.4.

Southampton is the most affordable region in the South East region, with average first-time buyer prices 5.6 times average earnings.

FInally, Bromley is the most affordable borough in London, though its house price to earnings ratio of 7.4 is still higher than most local authorities across the country.

Least affordable areas

Kensington and Chelsea remains the least affordable local authority in Britain, with a house price to earnings ratio of 14.7.

The least affordable areas across British regions are:

London: Kensington and Chelsea
South East: Oxford
East of England: Hertsmere
South West: Cotswold
East Midlands: Rutland
West Midlands: Malvern Hills
Yorkshire and the Humber: Ryedale
North West: South Lakeland
Wales: Vale of Glamorgan
Scotland: Edinburgh
North East: North Tyneside

Andrew Harvey, senior economist at Nationwide, said: “Around 45% of authorities now have a house price to earnings ratio of six or more, compared with 35% in 2016.

“Only 14% of localities now have a house price to earnings ratio below four, down from 22% five years ago.

“This helps to illustrate the challenge that many first-time buyers across the country face, in terms of raising a deposit to purchase their first home. Further, the cost of servicing a mortgage as a share of take-home pay is now above its long-run average in the majority of UK regions.”