Croydon ranked among top places where house prices are rising faster than earnings
04-17-2018
Halifax research suggests it is becoming more difficult for "middle earners" to get on to the property ladder
By Vicky Shaw
Croydon primary schools are rated as the worst in London according to Ofsted
Homes in Croydon have "earned" more than their owners over the past two years as house prices have been rising much faster than wages, research from Halifax suggests.
The bank compared rising property values against people's average take-home earnings across the two-year period of 2016 and 2017 to make the findings.
It found that house price growth in Barnet in London, outpaced average earnings by £52,256 over the two-year period - the highest difference in the survey.
Croydon ranked in the top 10 places in the country for house prices outpacing average earnings.
It came sixth with a difference of £27,386 between property price growth and wages.
The proportion of areas in the country where house prices outpaced earnings fell from 31% in 2016 to 18% in 2017, Halifax said.
Russell Galley, managing director at Halifax, said: "Over the past two years, we have seen house price growth and earnings converge at a national level, leading to a drop in the total number of areas where the average house price rise is greater than owners' take-home earnings.
"Despite the slowdown in house price growth in southern England, it has still outpaced wages across most of the region.
"This means that middle earners are also facing a challenge getting on to the property ladder."
The most and least expensive Croydon homes sold in February 2018
The report also highlighted a continued north/south divide, with 86% of areas where the average house price rise is greater than local earnings being in London, the South East, South West or the East of England.
This share is down slightly from the last year when 93% of areas came from these four regions.
No district in the north east of England, Yorkshire and the Humber, Scotland and Northern Ireland saw average house price growth eclipse average take-home earnings over the past two years, according to Halifax's report.
The most expensive home sold in Croydon in January 2018 went for £1,230,000 (Image: Cate Gillon/Getty Images)
Away from southern England, strong performers for house price growth compared with earnings included Harborough in the East Midlands, with house price gains of £19,662 more than earnings, as well as the Ribble Valley in the North West (£8,217), Tamworth in the West Midlands (£3,226) and Denbighshire in Wales (£793).
Here are the top 10 places where house prices have outpaced earnings across 2016 and 2017 according to Halifax.
In the list below, the average increase in house prices over the two-year period is the first figure, followed by average take-home earnings in the same time and then the cash difference (figures have been rounded):
1. Barnet, London, £106,896, £54,641, £52,256
2. North Hertfordshire, East of England, £95,417, £54,514, £40,903
3. Newham, London, £75,304, £45,169, £30,135
4. Worthing, South East, £73,342, £43,472, £29,871
5. Canterbury, South East, £75,798, £47,454, £28,345
6. Croydon, London, £79,064, £51,678, £27,386
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7. Guildford, South East, £77,664, £54,992, £22,672
8. Oxford, South East, £71,275, £48,761, £22,513
10. Merton, London, £73,800, £53,784, £20,016