01 Apr, 2019/ by Homeward Legal /First Time Buyer
The most affordable places for first-time buyers to grab their first home have been revealed, and it's the north-east of England that takes the top spot.
Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has revealed that property in the north-east cost five times average earnings, but in Copeland in Cumbria the average home will cost just 2.5 times average earnings.
Contrast that with the London borough of Kensington and Chelsea where a home costs 44.5 times average earnings. According to the ONS, this gap between most and least affordable areas in England and Wales is at record levels.
The ONS affordability ratio, based on house prices in an area divided by average income of residents, reveals that it cost the average worker 7.8 times their annual wage to buy a home in England and Wales in 2017-18, no change in the figures from the previous year.
In London, the average home will cost a person 13 times their annual earnings. And the capital became the only area of England and Wales to become more affordable for home buyers in the last year.
Average house prices in London have dropped by 1.9 percent in the last year, putting some property within reach of FTBs.
Use the ONS' interactive tool to find out which areas are most affordable for FTBs.