New research reveals where in the UK are workers being priced out of the property market the fastest (Data)

To find out where local workers are being priced out of the local property market the fastest, Online Mortgage Advisor has conducted a research by looking at how much property prices have outgrown local wages during the past 10 years. To do this, we calculated the ratio change between the median house price and median annual salary in 2013 vs December 2022 in 330* local authorities from 12 regions across Great Britain. A higher ratio indicates a larger growth in the gap between property prices and local earnings, meaning workers were priced out of the area at the fastest rate.

The study revealed that Epsom and Ewell was the British local authority where workers were priced out the most, while also revealing that Angus in Scotland is the location with the smallest change in the affordability ratio. 

Key findings:

• Epsom and Ewell is the local authority where have been priced out of the property market the fastest in the country, with an average property price to salary ratio increase of 8.99.
• London local authorities as well as the East and the South East of England dominate the list of the locations that have become more unaffordable compared to average salaries in the past 10 years.
• Kensington and Chelsea, Watford and Hillingdon come as second, third and fourth in the list as the worst affected locations, according to our research.
• There are only 20 British local authorities where buying property has become more affordable. Ten of them are located in Scotland.

In which Great Britain local authorities did property prices outgrow wages the fastest?

• Epsom and Ewell has seen the biggest change in property affordability compared to local earnings. 10 years ago, full-time workers could typically expect to spend 11.55 times their annual salary on buying a home. This has risen over the years and by December 2022, workers could expect to fork out 20.54 times their salary, an increase in the ratio of 8.99.
• Workers have been priced out of buying property in all London boroughs researched, with property prices growing at a faster rate than salaries in all areas of the capital. 
• The top 30 of the less affordable locations in Great Britain are in London as well as the South and the East of England. 

Where are the local authorities that have seen the smallest change in affordability?

• House prices in Angus, Scotland, has seen the smallest change in the affordability radio across the country. Only in 20 British local authorities buying property has become more affordable. Ten of them are located in Scotland and the rest in the North West and East of England. 

London property prices outgrew local salaries the most in comparison to other British regions

Our study was conducted across 11 regions in Great Britain to facilitate comparisons across the country.

• London salaries struggled the most nationwide to keep up with property prices.
• In the North East, the affordability ratio increased by the least, with a ratio change of only 0.13. This means that median salaries almost kept up with median house price changes over the last decade.
• In no British region did wages keep up with the increase in property prices during the last 10 years.

Methodology

• Property prices in our analysis were retrieved from The Office for National Statistics (England and Wales) and ROS (Scotland), and are correct for Q4 of each year (2013 & 2022). Although the project page only shows data up to June 2022, the data in this email is updated to December 2022, which is the latest that has been released by the producer of official statistics in England, Wales and Scotland.
• Median annual gross salaries for Great Britain were sourced from ONS.
• The property price to salary ratios from 2013 and 2022 were compared across 330 authorities nationwide to determine our results.