In the ten years since the financial crash, the north-south gap between the least and more affordable parts of Britain – as far as housing has concerned – has almost doubled.
Homes in 54% of local authority areas, including Burnley, Hartlepool and Middlesbrough, are more affordable than they were a decade ago, because wages have risen faster than local property prices. Homes in Scotland and Wales are also more affordable.
But in London and the south, affordability has worsened.
The area where affordability has fallen most is Three Rivers in Hertfordshire, where affordability has declined 61% since 2007.
The average house price to earnings ratio is almost 16, with house prices having risen from £332,891 in 2007 to £519,922.
In parts of London the average price of a home is now 20 times the average local wage. In every part of London, affordability has worsened.
The number crunching has been done by Yorkshire Building Society.
Regional changes in affordability
| Region | Change in affordability since 2007 |
| North East | +25.9% |
| Scotland | +19.6% |
| Wales | +17.9% |
| North West | +16.4% |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | +13.7% |
| West Midlands | +5.8% |
| East Midlands | +5.1% |
| South West | +3.3% |
| East of England | -15.4% |
| South East | -15.4% |
| London | -38.8% |
And yet anyone would think we all lived in London with the way the media report housing issues. They tell us our properties have massively increased in value, when they’ve gone down, they tell us our rents have soared, when they’ve remained static. And then the Government proposes solutions to London’s problems (and even then, only certain parts of London) for us all to swallow.
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