Home ownership is now financially out of reach for most UK workers, with the average property in England costing 7.7 times the median salary, research from Open Property Group has revealed.
Using 2024 ONS data, the median English house price stood at £290,000 while the median full-time salary was £37,600.
With typical mortgage lending capped at 4.5 times income, only around the highest-earning 10% can comfortably afford an average home.
Affordability pressures remain most acute in London, where ratios exceed 11 times earnings in several boroughs.
Nationally, the gap between wages and house prices has widened sharply over time, rising from 4.4 times income in 1999 to 7.7 today.
Jason Harris-Cohen, managing director at Open Property Group, said: “Our analysis shows that home ownership has become a financial impossibility for the majority of UK earners.
“What we’re witnessing is not just a temporary market fluctuation but a structural failure that has been decades in the making.
“Wages have not kept pace with rising property values, and this disconnect is now so severe that even diligent savers with stable incomes are finding that the goalposts are constantly shifting out of reach.”
He added: “This growing gap between wages and property prices is locking millions out of ownership and forcing people into long-term renting.
“The traditional housing ladder, where people start small and gradually move up, is no longer functioning for everyday buyers. Instead, it has become a system where those without family wealth or large deposits are left behind.
“If we want to restore balance and fairness to the housing market, policymakers must focus on long-term affordability rather than short-term incentives that do little to solve the underlying issue.
“Without meaningful intervention, we risk creating a generational divide where owning a home becomes a privilege reserved for the wealthiest, rather than a realistic aspiration for working people.”
Harris-Cohen concluded: “We also need to acknowledge that meaningful reform must address several interconnected factors that continue to push prices further out of reach.
“In reality, buyers are facing a perfect storm of challenges, including: stagnant wage growth compared to rising living costs; a chronic undersupply of genuinely affordable homes; high deposit requirements that outpace savings rates; regional disparities that leave workers unable to live near their jobs; and mortgage rates that remain elevated despite recent market adjustments. Without tackling these issues collectively, affordability will only worsen.”
