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A new report by Zoopla has highlighted the most affordable places to buy a home in Great Britain.
The property portal combined regional earnings data and house prices, and discovered that four of the five most affordable areas are in Scotland.
Read on to find out the most affordable town in your region, and for advice on what might happen to house prices in 2025.
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Cumnock in Scotland is Great Britain's most affordable town, with average property prices just 1.1 times average household income in the area.
Ayrshire, in the southwest of Scotland, is home to four of the five most affordable towns in Zoopla's research: Cumnock, Girvan, Saltcoats, and Ardrossan.
Shildon in County Durham is the most affordable town in England, while Ferndale in the Rhondda Valley is the most affordable town in Wales.
Overall, average house prices are 3.8 times the annual household income of people living in the area. Zoopla defines a household as two people earning the average full-time salary for the local area.
Unsurprisingly, London was the most unaffordable region in Zoopla's report, with house prices averaging 5.8 times household salary. Scotland and the North East were most affordable, at 2.1 and 2.2 times salary.
The table below shows the most affordable town or city in each region of Great Britain.
| East Midlands | Gainsborough | £170,000 | £70,500 | 2.4 |
| East of England | Wisbech | £209,800 | £70,900 | 3 |
| South East | Dover | £250,000 | £79,300 | 3.2 |
| South West | Plymouth | £222,200 | £68,300 | 3.3 |
| Wales | Ferndale | £101,600 | £67,700 | 1.5 |
| West Midlands | Stoke-On-Trent | £139,200 | £62,100 | 2.2 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | Hull | £119,800 | £62,200 | 1.9 |
Data from Zoopla. Average house value is based on Zoopla's data. Only postal towns with 5,000 homes or more are taken into consideration.
Zoopla's research highlights the relationship between salaries and property prices.
Despite buyers in London and the South East having the highest earnings, purchasing a property is less affordable than in most places elsewhere in Britain.
Zoopla found that 80% of towns in the south of England have average prices more than four times income.
Wisbech in Cambridgeshire is the only town in the south of England with prices below three times income. Wisbeth, Great Yarmouth, Peterborough and Lowestoft are also among the most affordable towns.
Croydon is the most affordable place in London, with a price ratio of 4.7. London's high property prices mean buyers must look further afield to buy a home. Zoopla found 33 towns within an hour of London with lower price ratios than anywhere in the city.
The affordability ratios calculated by Zoopla are based on two full-time incomes per household. Consequently, affordability is much worse for single buyers.
Zoopla's data shows single homebuyers can expect to spend an average of 7.6 times their annual income on a property.
This impacts a notable proportion of first-time buyers, with over 30% being single.
The average UK house price dipped in September, but annual price growth remains close to 3%.
London is the only region where house prices are declining year-on-year, albeit by just half a percent.
Prices are rising most rapidly in the North East of England, Northern Ireland, and Scotland, with all three regions recording annual increases of over 5%.
The estate agency Hamptons forecasts house prices in Great Britain will rise by 3% next year, with the average house price passing £300,000.
Hamptons predicts that London will experience the strongest house price growth, with prices rising by 4.5%.
Aneisha Beveridge of Hamptons says: ‘Changes to rate expectations remain the key risk to the housing market. But what seems more certain is that the London market is set to outperform the other regions next year as a new cycle begins.’
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