Chichester least affordable area outside London for first-time buyers, data shows
Chichester least affordable area outside London for first-time buyers, data shows
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Homes in the city cost 8.5 times the annual earnings of the typical full-time worker, Nationwide says. Chichester is the least affordable area outside London for first-time buyers to get on the property ladder, with homes in the cathedral city costing an average of 8.5 times the annual earnings of the typical full-time worker in the area, according to figures from Nationwide.
The building society said there had been a “modest improvement” in affordability across Great Britain over the past year, as wage rises had outpaced house price growth, and mortgage costs had fallen slightly. However, affordability remained stretched by historical standards, and first-time buyers typically faced paying five times local earnings for a home, above a long-run average of 3.9 times.
The least affordable local authority in Nationwide’s index was the London borough of Kensington and Chelsea, where first-time buyers need to pay an average of 13.6 times earnings. Chichester, in West Sussex, came second, followed by Three Rivers, in Hertfordshire. The latter local authority, which includes Rickmansworth, has an average first-time buyer house price that is 7.8 times local earnings.
At the other end of the scale, Aberdeen was the most affordable place to buy, with homes costing 2.5 times local wages. Rising inflation has led to pay increases which have helped aspiring homebuyers, but there are still significant affordability hurdles.
