Housing affordability – Countries, Local authorities and Cornwall
- rpwills
- Sep 22
- 2 min read
Main points
households, compared with the 10% highest in England (with the average London home being more than five times the highest 10% household income).
Our new modelled local authority dataset shows that out of 317 local authority (LA) areas in England and Wales, 29 (9.1%) were affordable to those who worked there in FYE 2024, the highest since FYE 2004 The median house price to disposable household income affordability ratios were 7.9 in England, 5.4 in Wales, 5.3 in Scotland and 4.6 in Northern Ireland in Financial Year Ending (FYE) 2024.
In FYE 2024, the median home sold for £290,000 in England, compared with £200,000 in Wales, £185,000 in Scotland and £168,000 in Northern Ireland; average disposable household incomes ranged from £35,000 to £37,000.
In all four countries, affordability improved in FYE 2024 as ratios decreased compared with the previous year, but this does not change the long-term trend of homes generally being unaffordable in each country since FYE 2006.
Northern Ireland's incomes have increased more quickly than house prices in each of the last five years, resulting in it being the only UK country where homes sold for less than five times average household income in FYE 2024.
In Wales and Scotland, a median-priced home was affordable for the highest-income 40% of (16.8%), but well below the start of the series in FYE 1999 (69.0%).
[Office for National Statistics].
Cornwall compared
At the end of the year 2023-24 the ratio for Cornwall was 8.44 compared to a figure of 7.89 for England. Throughout the run of data the figure for Cornwall has always been higher than the English figure, although less so in more recent years.
Cornwall | England | ||
Year | Ratio | Ratio | Comparison |
2003/04 | 8.76 | 6.94 | 1.3 |
2004/05 | 10.23 | 7.67 | 1.3 |
2005/06 | 9.61 | 7.69 | 1.2 |
2006/07 | 9.86 | 7.92 | 1.2 |
2007/08 | 9.93 | 8.18 | 1.2 |
2008/09 | 9.14 | 7.54 | 1.2 |
2009/10 | 8.78 | 7.59 | 1.2 |
2010/11 | 9.14 | 7.75 | 1.2 |
2011/12 | 8.94 | 7.54 | 1.2 |
2012/13 | 8.87 | 7.55 | 1.2 |
2013/14 | 8.65 | 7.5 | 1.2 |
2014/15 | 8.77 | 7.6 | 1.2 |
2015/16 | 8.54 | 7.85 | 1.1 |
2016/17 | 8.56 | 8.12 | 1.1 |
2017/18 | 8.88 | 8.24 | 1.1 |
2018/19 | 9.11 | 8.22 | 1.1 |
2019/20 | 8.76 | 7.98 | 1.1 |
2020/21 | 9.72 | 8.77 | 1.1 |
2021/22 | 9.58 | 8.44 | 1.1 |
2022/23 | 9.09 | 8.68 | 1.0 |
2023/24 | 8.44 | 7.89 | 1.1 |
Notes
Affordability ratios are calculated by dividing house price deciles by annual household equivalised disposable income deciles. The house price deciles for England and Wales are calculated using data from the Land Registry Price Paid data.
[ONS]
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