The 12 most and least affordable places to buy property in the UK

Aberdeen and Burnley are among the cheapest places to buy, while London is unsurprisingly the priciest.

The cheapest places to buy property in the UK are in the North of England and Scotland, according to new research, while London and the South of England are the least affordable. 

The most expensive areas included Kensington and Chelsea in London, Chichester in the South East, Three Rivers in Hertfordshire, Bath and North East Somerset, Cambridge and York, according to the latest affordability survey by Nationwide.  

Meanwhile, topping the list of the most affordable areas were Aberdeen in Scotland, Burnley and Hartlepool in the North of England, North East Lincolnshire and Blaenau Gwent in Wales.

House price-to-earnings ratios remain roughly similar to figures 12 months ago across the UK, with the average home in London costing eight times the average wage and three times average wages in Scotland, the cheapest area to buy. 

“London actually saw the largest improvement in affordability, reflecting relatively weak house price growth in 2024," said Andrew Harvey, senior economist at Nationwide.

"Nevertheless, the capital remains the least affordable region by a significant margin.  

Affordability pressures continue to be more pronounced in the South of England and East Anglia, whilst in the northern regions of England and Scotland, mortgage payments as a share of take-home pay are much closer to their long-run average."

‘Modest’ improvement in affordability

While the survey found there had been a “modest improvement” in affordability over the past year, due to wage inflation outpacing house price growth and a slight reduction in borrowing costs, affordability remains “stretched” by historic standards, according to the building society.

“A prospective buyer earning the average UK income and buying a typical first-time buyer property with a 20% deposit would have a monthly mortgage payment equivalent to 36% of their take-home pay – well above the long-run average of 30%,” said Harvey. 

“Furthermore, house prices remain high relative to average earnings, with the first-time buyer (FTB) house price to earnings ratio (HPER) standing at 5.0 at the end of 2024, still far above the long run average of 3.9. 

“Consequently, the deposit hurdle remains high. This is a challenge that has been made worse by the record increase in rents in recent years, which, together with the cost-of-living crisis more generally, has hampered the ability of many in the private rented sector to save.”

Affordability varies wildly depending on profession

The survey also found considerable variation in affordability across occupational groups. 

"Perhaps unsurprisingly, mortgage payments relative to take-home pay are lowest for those in managerial and professional roles, where average earnings tend to be higher," said Harvey. 

“Note that these are benchmark measures, which use the average earnings in each occupational group and the UK typical first-time buyer property price. In practice, those in higher-paid occupations may choose to buy more expensive properties.

“Affordability is most challenging for those working in areas classified as ‘elementary occupations’, which include jobs such as construction and manufacturing labourers, cleaners and couriers, and those in care, leisure and other personal service jobs.

"In these groups, typical mortgage payments would represent over 50% of average take-home pay."

Harvey added that those working in professional occupations typically take home around twice as much per year than those working in sales and customer service. 

The most and least affordable areas

Here are the most and least affordable areas in the UK:

Most affordable:

Least affordable:

Source: Nationwide  *HPER = house price to earnings ratio