Commuters in the South East struggled the most to keep up with house prices in 2015, exclusive analysis by The Mirror 's data team has revealed.
Across England and Wales as a whole, homes became 4% less affordable. The average full-time worker in England and Wales would have to spend 7.2 times their salary on the average home.
In London, house hunters must expect to pay up to 20 times their salary on the average home. House prices in commuter belt areas such as Reading, Basildon, Watford and South Cambridgeshire all outpaced wages at an increasing speed.
Northern house hunters did better. Almost all of the most affordable areas were in based in the North West or Wales.
Affordability was calculated using Land Registry and Office for National Statistics data. The average house price was compared to the typical wage for a full-time worker in the area.
Top 20 most affordable places in the UK
If you want to buy a home with as little debt as possible, your best bet is to jump on a train to the North West. While many of Britain's bargains are nestled in the Welsh valleys, urbanites need not despair. Liverpool is on the list, while Wigan is in commuting distance of Manchester.
- Copeland
- Burnley
- Blaenau Gwent
- Pendle
- Hyndburn
- Rhondda, Cynon, Taf
- Merthyr Tydfil
- County Durham
- Neath Port Talbot
- Barrow-in-Furness
- Hartlepool
- Kingston upon Hull
- Barnsley
- Stoke-on-Trent
- North Lincolnshire
- St Helens
- Liverpool
- Sunderland
- Wigan
- Blackburn with Darwen
How to find an affordable home
There's no short answer to this, unfortunately - especially if you live in central London. And strict affordability tests mean you can't just take out a massive loan and hope for the best.
But if you think out of the box, you might be able to find your dream home on the right budget.
1. Move
As our data shows, some areas are vastly less affordable than others. Check out this map of the most affordable and least affordable areas of the UK.
2. Team up
You're more likely to be able to afford a mortgage if there's two of you buying it - and that doesn't have to mean getting married. You could buy with a friend or family member instead.
3. Shared ownership
In a shared ownership scheme , you buy a chunk of the property and pay rent on the rest. You can choose to buy more later on. Read this father's story to find out more .