The Most Affordable Housing Region in the UK 2023

Average Salary and House Prices Across The UK

Salary Statistics - Statista November 2023

House Price Index - Rightmove 2023

As expected, London has the highest house average house price in the UK, being more than double the UK average house price and over £200,000 more than the second most expensive region, the South East. However, the annual salary in London isn’t seeing the same rise over the UK average that the house prices are. While the house prices in London are 104.6% more than the UK average, the average annual salary in London is only 29.2% more than the UK average which will affect the affordability of the region.

The rough trend when it comes to UK house prices is the further you get from London the cheaper the houses get, with Yorkshire and the Humber, Scotland and the North East having the cheapest house prices and the East and South East following London at the top of the table.

Affordability of Houses in Each Region

*Average UK citizen saves 8.21% of their monthly income: source.

When looking at the average percentage of income saved by the British public, 8.21%, the time it would take for a Brit on the average UK salary, to put down a 10% deposit for a house with the average UK price, would be 11 years and 4 months. Of course, this statistic would be changed depending on the deposit you wish to put down and the amount you save monthly.

Scotland is the most affordable housing region in the UK, although it will still take a person on the average Scottish wage 6 years to save for a 10% deposit on the average Scottish house. The other northern regions also tend to be much more affordable, with the North East, Yorkshire and the Humber, and the North West following Scotland and taking under 10 years for the average person to save for a 10% deposit on the average house.

At the other end of the table, it comes as no surprise that London is the least affordable housing region in the UK. If you are on the average London salary, it would take you 18 years to put a 10% deposit down on the average London house, double the amount of time it would take you in Scotland. The regions surrounding London are also toward the bottom of the table, with the South East and East taking the average person 16 years and 14 years respectively to save for a 10% deposit on the average house.

The Cost of Moving

Using our cost of moving house calculator, we have estimated how much it would cost if you wanted to move from the least affordable region in the UK, London, to the most affordable region in the UK, Scotland.

If you were selling a house at the average price in London and buying a house at the average price in Scotland - it would cost you £16,107 to move in total. Of course, this will change due to a multitude of factors and you can change these factors in the calculator. Out of this £16,107, the majority would be spent on estate agents' fees, however, you would have to spend around £3,855 on conveyancing fees, and £1,267 on a house removal company.