In 2024, the median house price in England was £290,000, which was 7.7 times the median earnings of a full-time worker at £37,600, according Office for National Statistics (ONS) data.
In Wales, the average home price was £201,000, or 5.9 times the average annual earnings of £34,300.
Research found affordability in 2024 returned to pre-COVID-19 levels, with median house prices rising by 1% since 2021, while earnings increased by 20%.
Only 9% of local authorities, equivalent to 27 areas, had homes priced at less than five times workers’ average earnings, marking the highest proportion since 2015, though still significantly lower than 1997, when 88% of areas met that criterion.
Affordability improved in 289 of the 318 local authorities in England and Wales, while it worsened in 28.
Blaenau Gwent, Burnley, and Blackpool were noted as the most affordable local authorities with affordability ratios of 3.8 and 3.9.
In contrast, Kensington and Chelsea remained the least affordable, with a ratio of 27.1.
Between 2019 and 2024, four of the 10 largest increases in affordability ratios were in the East Midlands, indicating worsening affordability, while the largest decreases in these ratios were all seen in local authorities in London.
