Winchester is least affordable UK city to buy a home
Winchester steals Oxford’s unwanted crown as Britain’s most unaffordable city to buy a home – but London exits the top five and Londonderry offers a bargain
- Winchester, Oxford and Truro are most unaffordable based on local wages
- Londonderry, Carlisle and Bradford are the three most affordable urban hubs
- City house price affordability ‘significantly’ better in the North, Halifax says
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Winchester is the most expensive city in Britain to buy a home, with an average property price tag of £630,432, an astonishing 14 times higher than average local pay packets, new findings have revealed.
While there has been considerable talk about a mass exodus from urban hubs during the pandemic, some remain as popular as ever – and in many, prices have risen sharply.
The average cost of a city home has swelled by 10.3 per cent to £287,440 in the past year, while the average earnings of people living in them climbed by just 2.1 per cent, mortgage lender Halifax said in a report.
Costly: Winchester is the most expensive city in Britain to buy a home, with property price tags 14 times higher than local people’s pay packets
London was outside the top five least affordable cities for the first time in six years.
With its impressive cathedral and quaint river mill, Winchester replaced Oxford as the most unaffordable city to snap up a property when average local earnings were taken into account.
Any prospective buyers looking for a home in Winchester can expect to pay around £630,432, which is 8 per cent more than last year, according to Halifax.
Across the country, the affordability of cities has deteriorated. Last year, house prices in cities typically cost around seven-and-a-half times wages.
There are, however, some more affordable options for buyers wanting a slice of urban life for a fraction of the price.
Londonderry in Northern Ireland held its position as the most affordable city for the third consecutive year, with a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.7. There, a property costs around £155,917.
| Rank | Location | Earnings ratio | Average property price | Average salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 . | Londonderry | 4.7 | £155,917 | £33,138 |
| =2. | Carlisle | 4.8 | £163,232 | £34,087 |
| =2. | Bradford | 4.8 | £164,410 | £34,219 |
| =4. | Stirling | 5.4 | £208,927 | £38,744 |
| =4. | Aberdeen | 5.4 | £205,199 | £38,016 |
| =4. | Glasgow | 5.4 | £196,625 | £36,205 |
| 7. | Perth | 5.5 | £203,229 | £36,700 |
| =8. | Inverness | 5.6 | £191,840 | £34,373 |
| =8. | Hull | 5.6 | £156,424 | £27,730 |
| 10. | Dundee | 5.8 | £181,150 | £31,344 |
| 11. | Sunderland | 6.0 | £179,567 | £29,745 |
| 12. | Lisburn | 6.1 | £203,386 | £33,138 |
| =13. | Salford | 6.2 | £211,903 | £34,444 |
| =13. | Durham | 6.2 | £196,274 | £31,762 |
| =13. | Liverpool | 6.2 | £215,741 | £34,911 |
| =13. | Belfast | 6.2 | £205,228 | £33,138 |
| =13. | Lancaster | 6.2 | £217,392 | £35,004 |
| 18. | Newcastle | 6.3 | £229,434 | £36,212 |
| 19. | Stoke on Trent | 6.5 | £200,161 | £30,698 |
Housing affordability improved in seven cities compared with a year earlier, namely Oxford, Carlisle, Portsmouth, Durham, Salford, Inverness and Glasgow.
Carlisle and Aberdeen are now more affordable than five years ago, with their house price-to-earnings ratios easing, Halifax said.
| Rank | Location | Earnings ratio | Average property price | Average salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Winchester | 14.0 | £630,432 | £45,059 |
| 2. | Oxford | 12.4 | £486,928 | £39,220 |
| =3. | Truro | 12.1 | £356,788 | £29,558 |
| =3. | Bath | 12.1 | £476,470 | £39,508 |
| 5. | Chichester | 10.6 | £446,899 | £37,352 |
| 6. | Cambridge | 11.9 | £482,300 | £37,352 |
| 7. | Brighton | 11.6 | £449,243 | £38,737 |
| 8. | London | 11.0 | £564,695 | £51,257 |
| =9. | St Albans | 10.2 | £604,423 | £59,391 |
| =9. | Chelmsford | 10.2 | £424,690 | £41,781 |
| 11. | Salisbury | 10.0 | £392,355 | £39,154 |
| 12. | Exeter | 9.9 | £323,554 | £32,635 |
| 13. | Leicester | 9.7 | £279,080 | £28,725 |
| 14. | Norwich | 9.4 | £306,946 | £32,632 |
| 15. | Bristol | 9.3 | £346,902 | £37,357 |
| =16. | Southampton | 9.0 | £310,435 | £34,429 |
| =16. | Canterbury | 9.0 | £365,168 | £40,565 |
| =16. | Gloucester | 9.0 | £287,600 | £31,987 |
| 19. | Worcester | 8.8 | £303,132 | £34,389 |
| 20. | Cardiff | 8.7 | £267,851 | £31,946 |
Inverness is the only city found to be more affordable than 10 years ago. An average home there costs 5.6 times average earnings, down from 6.2 in 2011, due to wage growth outstripping house price growth.
All of the most affordable cities have house prices below the average for all UK cities (£287,440), expect for Hereford, where property prices are around £316,929.
Halifax said: ‘Despite Hereford being the most expensive location in the top 20, affordability there is boosted by average earnings of £48,048, almost £10,000 above the UK average.’
London is now outside the least affordable cities for the first time in six years, yet affordability in the capital has not improved. Average property prices rose by 5 per cent to £564,695 in Greater London, while earnings grew by 4 per cent, pushing London’s price to earnings ratio up to 11, up from 10.9 last year.
Russell Galley, managing director, Halifax, said: ‘Affordability is significantly better in the north and there are now just two cities – Plymouth and Portsmouth – with better than average affordability in the south.’
Summing up all its findings, Halifax said the average property price tag to earnings ratio in cities was 8.1. It has been increasing for the past eight years, and stood at 5.6 between 2011 and 2013.
Wages in cities are often higher than in rural areas, and during the pandemic a high number of city dwellers have relocated to the countryside, helping to push up house prices in many greener areas.
Across all parts of the country, the house price-to-earnings ratio is 8.5, with property prices at an average of £327,691.
