Investor Insight - affordability measure shows locations of best value

A new analysis by Compare My Move shows how much a 10 per cent deposit would be for an average priced house in each UK region. And it additionally sees how long it would take a prospective purchaser to save for that deposit, based on the average income per area.

Combined, these offer investors an insight into best value locations for property purchases. 

As expected, London has the highest house average house price in the UK, being more than double the UK average house price and over £200,000 more than the second most expensive region, the South East.

However, the annual salary in London isn’t seeing the same rise over the UK average that the house prices are. While the house prices in London are 104.6 per cent more than the UK average, the average annual salary in London is only 29.2% more than the UK average which will affect the affordability of the region.

The rough trend when it comes to UK house prices is the further you get from London the cheaper the houses get, with Yorkshire and the Humber, Scotland and the North East having the cheapest house prices and the East and South East following London at the top of the table.

When looking at the average percentage of income saved by the British public, 8.21 per cent, the time it would take for a Brit on the average UK salary, to put down a 10 per cent deposit for a house with the average UK price, would be 11 years and 4 months. Of course, this statistic would be changed depending on the deposit you wish to put down and the amount you save monthly. 

Scotland is the most affordable housing region in the UK, although it will still take a person on the average Scottish wage six years to save for a 10 per cent deposit on the average Scottish house. The other northern regions also tend to be much more affordable, with the North East, Yorkshire and the Humber, and the North West following Scotland and taking under 10 years for the average person to save for a 10% deposit on the average house. 

At the other end of the table, it comes as no surprise that London is the least affordable housing region in the UK. 

If you are on the average London salary, it would take you 18 years to put a 10 per cent deposit down on the average London house, double the amount of time it would take you in Scotland. The regions surrounding London are also toward the bottom of the table, with the South East and East taking the average person 16 years and 14 years respectively to save for a 10 per cent deposit on the average house.