With the high deposits demanded by banks, getting on the first rung of the property ladder has never been more difficult if you are a first-time buyer.
As property prices and deposits have spiralled, wages have stagnated, leaving many people feeling that owning a home is nothing more than a pipe dream.
According to new research from Gocompare.com, the minimum income needed to purchase a house in the UK is a staggering £50,000, more than twice the average annual salary of £22,000.
In what won’t come as much of a surprise, London comes out as the most expensive place to get a property. Household incomes of at least £140,000 a year are needed to buy a flat and a mind-boggling £275,000 for a detached house, way above the average salary in the capital of £30,338.
There is good news if you are looking to live in Blackburn, where a salary of £14,000 a year could be enough to buy a flat
Blackburn is 10 times cheaper than London and the average salary in the town is £18,444, making it the most affordable place to get a property in the UK.
Most worryingly, the research found that in 51 out of the 65 cities examined, the average salary is below the minimum required to buy a property.
After Blackburn, the cheapest places to buy property are Hull, Blackpool, Grimsby and Stoke-on-Trent, where a salary of just £15,000 could be enough to purchase a flat.
Outside of London, the most expensive places are Brighton, Edinburgh, Bristol and Oxford, where house hunters need to be earning a minimum of at least £54,000.
Ben Wilson, home insurance expert at Gocompare.com, said: “Although owning a home may be achievable in places like Blackburn and Sunderland, in other parts of the country the rapid rise in property value and a growing urban population is pricing many of the British public out of home ownership.
“London’s high prices are well documented, but it’s in other parts of the south of England that the gap between average salary and average house price is at its most alarming, with places like Brighton requiring a minimum household income of £180,000 to afford a detached house.”
Details of the research can be found here.
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