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First-time Buyers

The UK’s 10 most affordable places to buy a home

Christina Hoghton
Written By:
Christina Hoghton
Posted:
Updated:
27/02/2024

In some places you can get a property for just 2.6 times the local salary, but buyers are priced out of many parts of the UK

Copeland in Cumbria is the most affordable local authority for those looking to buy a house, according to Compare the Market.

The price comparison site analysed average house prices against the average salary in each local authority to reveal the most and least affordable places to buy a home.

Copeland, on the west coast of Cumbria, has average house price just over 2.6 times the average salary in the area.

It is closely followed by East Ayrshire in Scotland and Barrow-in-Furness, also in Cumbria. The rest of the top 10 most affordable areas are below:

1. Copeland
2. East Ayrshire
3. Barrow-in-Furness
4. Inverclyde
5. County Durham
6. Burnley
7. Blaenau Gwent
8. North Lanarkshire
9. West Dunbartonshire
10. North Ayrshire

Least affordable areas

The least affordable area to buy property in the UK is, not surprisingly, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Prospective buyers are looking at an average house price of 43 times the average local salary.

Indeed, nine of the top 10 least affordable places to buy a house in the UK include nine local authorities in London.

1. Kensington and Chelsea
2. City of Westminster
3. Camden
4. Hammersmith and Fulham
5. Richmond upon Thames
6. Wandsworth
7. Haringey
8. Hackney
9. Chiltern
10. Barnet

The only local authority not in London which made the top 10 least affordable places to live is Chiltern in Buckinghamshire, with an average house price of 17.2 times the average local salary.