The Herald - The Herald Magazine
THE VOICE OF PROPERTY
A NEW study by mortgage broker L&C Mortgages reveals the best UK areas for first time buyers based on GOV.UK data on median earnings and average first-time buyer house prices per region – and Scottish regions occupied all but one of the top five spots.
First place goes jointly to East and North Ayrshire mainland with median monthly earnings of £2,268 and a median starter house price of just £103,453.
According to the mortgage firm behind the study, Ayrshire’s reasonable salary offerings and impressively low first-time buyer house prices give it a ratio of 3.8 – making it the most affordable UK area to buy a house. Staying in Scotland, North Lanarkshire took third place with median monthly earnings of £2,355 and a median first-time buyer house price of £112,116 (ratio 3.97).
Interestingly, fourth equal place goes to South Lanarkshire, Inverclyde, East Renfrewshire, and Renfrewshire with a ratio of 4.39 based on median monthly earnings of £2,390 and a median first-time buyer house price of £151,264 (ratio 4.39). East Lanarkshire took fifth place with a ratio of 4.52, followed in sixth place by Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire (4.59), with Falkirk ranked ninth (4.81), and South Ayrshire in 10th place (4.85).
Reporting on the findings, an expert from L&C Mortgages comments: “Identifying regions with favourable house-to-income cost ratios shows just how regionalised affordability can be and highlights how some first-time buyers may find it easier to get on the property ladder than others. Scotland features high up in the list of areas offering numerous areas with more affordable housing prices when compared to earnings. On this metric, it looks to have a solid status as the top UK area for affordability for prospective homeowners.”
PROPERTY market reports are generally top-heavy in statistical data, so it was refreshing to receive a personal take on the Scottish residential market this week from property professional John McHugh, managing partner of DM Hall Chartered Surveyors, whose outlook for 2024 is optimistic.
Referencing the ongoing resilience of the Scottish market despite the many challenges in the last year, he says: “We now find ourselves heading towards territory which property professionals have long been painting as the much hoped for Goldilocks scenario – a reasonable mortgage environment, freely available lending, stable employment, and an economy which, if not booming, at least is not bust.
“Edinburgh continues to function as a market should: steady and active, with plenty of people looking, prices good, viewing numbers up and closing dates – the unassailable sign of underlying strength. Glasgow is not far behind, albeit predominantly in the areas in which activity tends to be focused this sprawling city – the West End, the South Side, and the suburbs – although prices achieved remain very much in the wake of the levels seen in the capital.
“Aberdeen has long been a market of its own in Scotland and this time is proving no different. The Granite City remains hampered by negative political attitudes towards its mainstay energy sector and the outlook is less encouraging.”