Cheapest places to buy a UK home 2024: Cumnock, Workington, Dover & more

New research reveals the places in Britain with the most affordable homes. How does your area compare?

Cumnock in Scotland is the most affordable place to live in Britain, new research has found.

According to data from Zoopla, the former mining town in East Ayrshire, has average property values of £80,300, far below the national average of £267,500.

Researchers calculated affordability by comparing property values to the average earnings of dual-income households, resulting in Cumnock’s ratio of 1.1%

This means the typical house price is 1.1 times higher than average household earnings.

If you’re looking to buy in England, Shildon in the North East also has a ratio of 1.1%.

Overall, average properties in Britain are valued at 3.8 times typical household earnings.

When it comes to London, properties are typically coming in at 5.8 times average incomes.

According to the research, Croydon was the most affordable region in the capital, with homes valued at 4.7 times typical household earnings.

Within Southern England, Wisbech in Cambridgeshire was the most affordable area, with average property values of £209,800.

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Most affordable places to buy

As part of the research, Zoopla identified the most affordable place in each region.

The results are below.

Region	Postal town	Average house value (Oct 24)	Estimated annual household income (Sept 2024)	House value-to-earnings ratio
East Midlands	Gainsborough	£170,000	£70,500	2.4
East of England	Wisbech	£209,800	£70,900	3.0
South East	Dover	£250,000	£79,300	3.2
South West	Plymouth	£222,200	£68,300	3.3
Wales	Ferndale	£101,600	£67,700	1.5
West Midlands	Stoke-On-Trent	£139,200	£62,100	2.2
Yorkshire and The Humber	Hull	£119,800	£62,200	1.9
London	Croydon	£417,800	£84,800	4.7
North East	Shildon	£73,200	£65,800	1.1
North West	Workington	£123,700	£76,900	1.6
Scotland	Cumnock	£80,300	£75,800	1.1

Source: Zoopla

Perhaps unsurprisingly, many of the most affordable homes are in Scotland and the North of England.

Researchers found that South West Ayrshire has a particularly high number of reasonably priced homes.

In fact, four out of Britain’s five most affordable towns – Cumnock, Girvan, Saltcoats and Ardrossan – are located in the area.

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Changes in property value

But how have things changed since this time last year?

During its research, Zoopla also looked at movements in affordability ratios since 2023.

Region	Average house value (Oct 24)2	2024 value-to-earnings ratio	2023 value-to-earnings ratio	YoY change/ improvement
South West	£326,500	4.3	4.5	4.9%
South East	£408,400	4.9	5.1	4.8%
East of England	£364,700	4.4	4.6	4.8%
Yorkshire and The Humber	£199,500	2.8	2.9	4.3%
East Midlands	£241,100	3.2	3.4	4.0%
London	£560,800	5.8	6.0	3.4%
Scotland	£171,700	2.2	2.3	3.0%
North West	£209,700	2.9	3.0	2.6%
West Midlands	£245,900	3.4	3.4	2.1%
Wales	£215,400	3.1	3.1	2.0%
North East	£146,500	2.1	2.2	1.6%
Great Britain	£307,600	3.8	3.9	3.7%

Source: Zoopla

As you can see from the table above, affordability has improved across all regions by an average of 3.7%.

Affordability improved most in Southern England, by up to 5%. According to the data, house prices in the region fell by two-thirds over the past year, with the greatest improvements in the South East, South West and East of England.

Still, house prices remain a concern, as 80% of towns have property values exceeding four times the average household income.

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Have your say

What do you think of this data? Does it surprise you to hear that affordability levels are improving in Britain? Has this been your experience or perhaps you feel that prices in your area continue to massively outstrip earnings.

We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.