23 Aug, 2017/ by Homeward Legal /Buyer, First Time Buyer
Working out your finances before you start looking is the first rule of househunting. But now new research that shows the most and least affordable areas by your hourly pay rate could help buyers quickly sift through the housing hot spots that match their needs.
Most of us account for every penny when we scout out the areas we think are in our price range and quickly discard those we think are not.
The research - by online blinds company web-blinds.com - looked at 600 towns and cities across the UK to work out how much you need to earn an hour to afford to buy there. The starting point of their work is the recommendation from the housing charity Shelter that housing costs should be no more than 35 percent of an individual's income.
Unsurprisingly, the top 10 most affordable places to buy by hourly pay rate are mainly in Wales and Scotland with Moor Row in Cumbria England's sole representative. And equally unsurprising is that the top 10 least affordable by hourly pay rate are all in the south-east of England. London postcodes are the most expensive to buy in with the most affordable in the north-east and north of England, Scotland and Wales.
Vast difference between north and south
The top 10 most affordable are:
1. Ferndale £4.07; 2. New Tredegal £4.44; 3. Treorchy £4.86; 4. Moor Row £5.13; 5. Stevenston £5.30; 6. Sanquhar £5.42; 7. Tonypandy £5.42; 8. Abertillery £5.46; 9. Mountain Ash £5.48; 10. Pentre £5.53
The top 10 most affordable postcodes from 2643 surveyed are:
1. TS2 Middlesbrough £2.15; 2. G34 Glasgow £3.51; 3. DN31 Grimsby £3.93; 4. TS1 Middlesbrough £33.94; 5. BD1 Bradford £34.01; 6. SR1 Sunderland £34.01; 7. CF42 Ferndale £4.07; 8. NP24 New Tredegar £4.44; 9. TS3 Middlesbrough £4.85; 10. CF42 Treorchy £4.86
If you fancy living in the London commuter belt, here are the towns with the heftiest hourly pay rate attached to affordability:
1. Virginia Water, Surrey; £84.84; 2. Cobham, Surrey £74.76; 3. Beaconsfield, Bucks £70.58; 4. Radlett, Herts £68.75; 5. London £63.72; 6. Esher, Surrey £62.13; 7. Gerrards Cross, Bucks £61.77; 8. Northwood, London £57.81; 9. Chalfont St Giles, Bucks £57.77; 10. Ascot, Berks £56.06
The top least affordable postcodes, all in London, by hourly pay rate are:
1. SW7 £186.66; 2. W8 £180.27; 3. SW3 £170.32; 4. W11 £153; 5. W1B £143.97; 6. W1C £143.97; 7. W1D £143.97; 8. W1F £143.97; 9. W1G £143.97; 10. W1H £143.97
Nothing average about Homeward Legal's service
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the average salary in the UK is £27,721 or an hourly rate of £14.21 if we presume the average person works a 37.5 hour week. The average London salary is £34,967 with an hourly rate of £17.93.
Whatever your take-home pay, you can count on Homeward Legal to provide affordable quotes on all conveyancing requirements for buying and selling across England and Wales. Call our sales team now on or get an instant quote online here.