Afford focus
Vicky Shaw reports as the most and least affordable places in Britain for first-time home buyers are revealed
FIRST-TIME buyers face spending at least six times their annual wages to get on the property ladder in 45% of Britain’s local authority areas as affordability becomes more stretched.
In 2016, 35% of local authority areas had average house price-toearnings ratios of six or more, according to the analysis by Nationwide Building Society.
The London borough of Kensington and Chelsea is the least affordable place for those trying to get on the property ladder, while East Ayrshire in Scotland remains the most affordable, Nationwide’s report found.
First-time buyers face paying nearly 15 times their earnings to buy a home in Kensington and Chelsea, compared with just under two-and-a-half times earnings in East Ayrshire.
The report used official 2021 house price and earnings data.
The race for more living space during the coronavirus pandemic as people relocated may have priced some first-time buyers out of the market in more rural areas.
Andrew Harvey, a senior economist at Nationwide, said: “Most authorities in the South West (of England) have seen a deterioration in affordability over the last year, but the Cotswolds replaced
Bath and North East Somerset as the least affordable area, with a house price earnings ratio of 8.6.”
Swindon remains the most affordable area in the South West, with a ratio of 5.4.
“In Yorkshire and the Humber, the district of Ryedale in North Yorkshire continues to have the highest house price-to-earnings ratio, despite seeing weaker price growth over the last year than most of the region.”
Barnsley has replaced North East Lincolnshire as the most affordable area in Yorkshire and the Humber, Andrew said.
“The least affordable area in the North West is South Lakeland in Cumbria, which includes parts of the Lake District national park.”
Copeland remains the most affordable area in the North West of England, despite average prices rising 11% over the past year.
In Wales, Glamorgan has replaced Cardiff as the least affordable ares, while Merthyr Tydfil remains the most affordable local authority in Wales.
Andrew added: “North Tyneside is the least affordable area within the North East, although average prices are only around four times average earnings, so this is still relatively affordable compared to some of the other locations in our list.”
County Durham has the lowest ratio in the area at 3.1.
The average first-time buyer house price-to-earnings ratio has also declined from 4.6 to 3.4.