House affordability at its worse since 2007
House prices are lurching forward and are at their least affordable for over eleven years, according to a report from Lloyds Bank.
City dwellers have seen a 36 per cent rise in the past five years with an average cost of an urban home at £233,000.
However, average annual earnings have risen to £33,420, just a nine percent rise in the same period.
Unsurprisingly, the report has Greater London down as having the highest property price a £480,800, but it was Oxford who has been crowned the least affordable city in the UK, where the average house costs £430,000–11.5 times the average earnings in the area.
Taking into account earnings, it means that the capital is joint third with Brighton and Hove with wages higher in London than elsewhere.
The 2014 Mortgage Market Review imposed tougher rules on lenders meaning that it was not possible for buyers to borrow more than 4.5 times their salary.
This means, buyers in Oxford, London, Brighton and other cities, would need to stump up a significant deposit in order to be able to buy in their area.
While city living has its fair share of perks, especially if you’re working in the area, it is at is least affordable in over ten years.
Despite this, the news looks brighter in the north, which houses the top twenty most affordable cities.
Coming in at number one for the most affordable is Stirling in Scotland, whose average house price is around four times the average yearly wage at £186,000.
Derry in Northern Ireland, Bradford, Lancaster and Durham make up the top five cheapest cities to live in relation to average wages.
In fact, the only Northern City to make the most unaffordable list was York, which has house prices eight times the gross annual earnings.
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