Data compiled by the online estate agents eMoov shows the most expensive properties are in London where average prices are 14 times higher than the average wage. Indeed in England as a whole, average house prices are nine times higher than wages, which have not increased in line with property prices.
Outside London the most disproportionate region is St Albans in Hertfordshire where the average wage is £18,928 while the average property price is £522,716 – 28 times higher.
In contrast lower property prices in Scotland mean they are just five times higher than the average wage. The most expensive area in Scotland is East Renfrewshire where properties are on average 13 times more than the average wage. In Wales the lower cost of property means that the gap is on average just six times than average wages. The most expensive area of Wales is Monmouthshire where the average house price is £221,345 – 12 times the average wage.
Russell Quirk, founder and CEO of eMoov.co.uk, said: “Property values in England are significantly higher than the rest of the United Kingdom, which is reflected in the wages offered. However, the wages are not always consistent with property prices and have failed to increase at the same pace.
“It highlights the unaffordability of the market in England when you consider the difference in Wales, where the highest annual average wage is under £21,000 in Cardiff yet the city’s property value is merely third in the country behind regions with lower averages in annual incomes. Additionally, the average wage in Kensington and Chelsea would take almost a life-time working to be able to afford a home, which is unrealistic for most let alone the average buyer.”
He went on to say that buyers should not just focus on lower priced properties but should also look at the local market and economy in which a property is based.