London may have fallen out of the UK's top three regions for house price growth, but gaining a foothold on the capital's property ladder is still out of the range of many first-time buyers - and is unlikely to change anytime soon.
The average London house price is 14 times higher than the average annual wage of £34,320, online estate agent eMoov.co.uk has found.
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In an analysis of data from the Office for National Statistics, eMoov.co.uk found the cheapest London borough for those wishing to buy property on an average local wage was Barking and Dagenham, closely followed by Tower Hamlets.
In these areas, house prices were 11 times average salaries, reaching £271,584 and £457,392 in Barking and Dagenham and Tower Hamlets respectively.
Cheapest London boroughs: Average house prices vs local annual wage
1. Barking and Dagenham –£271,584 vs £24,596 (11 times higher)
2. Tower Hamlets – £471,584 vs £39,936 (11 times higher)
3. Hounslow – £389,973 vs £30,160 (13 times higher)
4. Hillingdon – £404,502 vs £28,392 (14 times higher)
5. Bexley – £319,307 vs £21,684 (15 times higher)
6. Greenwich – £368,822 vs £24,648 (15 times higher)
7. Newham – £355,950 vs £23,712 (15 times higher)
8. Croydon – £360,845 vs £23,868 (15 times higher)
9. Southwark – £517,234 vs £33,540 (15 times higher)
10. Havering – £340,162 vs £21,892 (15 times higher)
(Source: ONS)
At the other end of the scale, although house prices have fallen six per cent in the last year in Kensington and Chelsea (or even as high as 10 per cent according to Knight Frank), perhaps unsurprisingly the borough still has the highest wage-to-house-price ratio.
Property in the area is a whopping 46 times higher than the average borough salary of £26,624.
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In its analysis, eMoov.co.uk found there were fifteen other boroughs in which the average house price was over 20 times the local area's average wage, including Camden, Merton, Kingston upon Thames and Islington.
The 10 most expensive London boroughs for an average wage
| LONDON BOROUGH | AVERAGE HOUSE PRICE | AVERAGE WAGE | RATIO |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kensington and Chelsea | £1,212,375 | £26,62446 | 46 times higher |
| City of Wesminster | £1,028,617 | £33,020 | 31 times higher |
| Kingston upon Thames | £659,636 | £25,636 | 26 times higher |
| Hammersmith and Fulham | £746,570 | £29,120 | 26 times higher |
| Camden | £809,804 | £32,084 | 25 times higher |
| Wandsworth | £606,891 | £26,260 | 23 times higher |
| Harrow | £442,348 | £19,292 | 23 times higher |
| Haringey | £555,638 | £23,296 | 22 times higher |
| Merton | £514,595 | £23,296 | 22 times higher |
| Barnet | £524,735 | £28,816 | 22 times higher |
Founder and chief executive of eMoov.co.uk, Russell Quirk, said the figures showed what a "monumental task" awaits Londoners who try to get on the capital's property ladder and highlights that "something should be done at both ends of the spectrum" to help them.
Quirk added:
London is of course one of, if not the, most unaffordable city to live in where the price of property is concerned.
However, on top of this wages have failed to keep pace with the rapidly inflating cost of getting on the ladder for some time now, making the prospect of living and working in London an unsavoury one for many.