Stirling ‘most affordable’
Properties in Edinburgh are six times average salary, says survey
STIRLING has been revealed as Scotland’s most affordable city to buy a home, according to new figures.
The average cost of a house in the city was four times the wage of a worker, the Bank of Scotland’s Affordable Cities Review showed.
In comparison, Edinburgh was said to be the least affordable city, with a typical house price 6.12 times the average annual wage.
On a whole, Scotland was judged to have one of the most affordable housing markets in the UK, with the average cost of a home compared to earnings lower than that of the rest of the country.
However, experts say that rising house prices are putting the squeeze on prospective homeowners’ plans, and more houses need to be built to alleviate the pressure.
Nicola Noble, mortgages director at Bank of Scotland, said: “The rising house prices over the past three years have resulted in a deterioration in home affordability.”
Nicola Barclay, chief executive of industry body Homes for Scotland, added: “The single most effective way to address concerns on housing need and affordability is to increase the supply of new homes of all tenures.
“Scotland’s growing population has a diverse set of housing needs and aspirations and there is an ever-present demand for good quality, sustainable homes.
“However, build levels remain some 40 per cent down on 2007 levels and, with tens of thousands also on waiting lists, a chronic undersupply of housing is having a severe impact on communities across the whole country.
“We are therefore calling on the next Scottish Government to manage a return to pre-recession build levels of at least 25,000 homes per year over the course of the next Parliamentary term.”
The average Scottish city house price has risen by three per cent last year from £176,009 to £181,077, meaning the average cost of buying a city property dropped from 5.25 to 5.36 times the gross average annual earning.
On average, affordability in Scottish cities is now at its lowest level since 2009, but is still 12 per cent lower than the peak of 6.12 times earnings in 2008 at the height of the last housing market boom.
The bank found that the improvement in affordability was down to a slight rise in wages and a fall in the average price of property.
However, with an average price of £220,099, houses in Edinburgh are more expensive compared with average earnings than in any other Scottish city.
In contrast, Glasgow was said to be the second most affordable city in Scotland, and 10th in the UK overall, with an average house price of £159,580 – just 5.07 times the yearly wage.
Scotland’s largest city was followed by Perth (5.24), Dundee (5.38), Aberdeen (5.72) and Inverness (6.03) in the cheapest property league table produced by BoS.
The study also found that Aberdeen was home to the biggest price rise of any Scottish city over the past decade, and the cost of an average home rose by 58 per cent due to demand fuelled by the oil boom.
However, a separate study out yesterday showed that Aberdeen was the only city out of 20 across the UK to have seen a house price drop in the past year, with the oil price slump blamed for the fall.