Recent statistics have revealed the most and least affordable cities to live in in comparison to the cities average wage.
The cost of a typical home in the UK is now at its most unaffordable since 2009. City homes now cost a massive 6.1 times the gross annual earnings which is up from 5.8 in 2014.
It comes as no surprise that topping the least affordable cities list are locations such as Oxford, Winchester and Cambridge where houses can cost up to 10 or 11 times as much as the local wage.
Greater London isn’t far behind where homes can cost up to 8.75 times the average wage in the capital.
The further North you go, the more affordable it is.
Stirling is the UK’s most affordable city, with average house prices coming online casino to just £154,645 which is just under four times the local average wage.
Northern cities such as Leeds and Liverpool also reported a strong housing growth in 2014 compared to the previous five years.
Obviously, these figures mean that people will be struggling to purchase houses in larger cities, and coupled with the current housing crisis, it’s no surprise that more people are turning to renting their homes.
Andy Hulme, director of Lloyds Bank mortgages said: “House price rises in the past two years have resulted in a deterioration in home affordability in the majority of UK cities” which has inevitably lead to a wider North/South divide.
The 10 most affordable cities are:
- Stirling, Scotland, 3.85
- Londonderry, Northern Ireland, 3.92
- Lancaster, North West, 4.03
- Bradford, Yorkshire and the Humber, 4.17
- Hereford, West Midlands, 4.42
- Belfast, Northern Ireland, 4.49
- Newry, Northern Ireland, 4.51
- Salford, North West, 4.56
- Lisburn, Northern Ireland, 4.63
- Durham, North, 4.70
The 10 least affordable cities are:
- Oxford, South East, 10.89
- Winchester, South East, 10.11
- Cambridge, East Anglia, 9.76
- Chichester, South East, 9.19
- Brighton and Hove, South East, 9.10
- Bath, South West, 8.83
- Greater London, 8.75
- Truro, South West, 8.61
- Salisbury, South West, 8.43
- Exeter, South West, 8.04
What do you think this means for the property market as it conflicts with many reports of it going to be great for 2015?
