UK Mortgage Affordability Map

The map below shades each UK region by how many years of an average local salary it takes to buy an average local home. Set the four inputs to match your situation, then click a region to see the full breakdown: median price, median salary, monthly mortgage payment at today's rate, and how long it would take you to save the deposit.

Why this matters: the average UK salary is roughly the same in Newcastle and Knightsbridge, but the house-price-to-salary ratio is more than twice as high in London. Same job, same career, completely different financial reality. This is the map that makes that concrete.

Your numbers

Years of median salary to buy a median home

More affordableLess affordable

Each region's number is its median local house price divided by the median local full-time salary. Lower is cheaper; higher means a buyer on the local wage needs more years of pay to cover the price.

SCT5.2x NIR5.0x NE4.8x NW6.0x YH5.9x WLS6.0x WM6.8x EM6.9x EE8.5x SW8.3x SE8.9x LDN10.9x

Tap a region to see the affordability breakdown.

All regions ranked

RegionPriceSalaryP/EMonthly% net
North East£169k£35k4.8x £88741%
Northern Ireland£178k£35k5.0x £93742%
Scotland£198k£38k5.2x £1,04244%
Yorkshire & Humber£212k£36k5.9x £1,11350%
Wales£209k£35k6.0x £1,10050%
North West£219k£36k6.0x £1,15051%
West Midlands£246k£36k6.8x £1,29457%
East Midlands£245k£36k6.9x £1,28658%
South West£310k£37k8.3x £1,62870%
East of England£340k£40k8.5x £1,78671%
South East£375k£42k8.9x £1,97075%
London£520k£48k10.9x £2,73391%

How this is calculated

House prices are the latest annual averages from the ONS UK House Price Index. Salaries are median full-time gross annual pay from the latest ONS ASHE release. Monthly payments use the standard repayment-mortgage annuity formula (M = L × r(1+r)^n / ((1+r)^n - 1)). "% of net pay" assumes a 25% income tax and National Insurance deduction (gross × 0.75 ÷ 12) - fine for the headline but plug exact numbers into the take-home pay calculator if you want the truth for your circumstances.

Regional data refreshed 2026-05-17. Mortgage rate refreshes daily from the BoE.

Frequently asked questions

What does "price to earnings" mean for a house?
It's the ratio of the median local house price to the median local full-time salary. A ratio of 10x means a typical home costs ten times what a typical worker earns in a year. Mortgage lenders typically cap loans at 4.5x salary, so anything above that needs a deposit, two earners, or both.
Why are these salary figures so much higher than what I earn?
They are medians for full-time employees by place of work. Part-time workers, the self-employed and people not in employment are excluded. If you compare against household-disposable-income figures the picture changes materially. The page deliberately uses ASHE because it is the standard ONS series journalists and economists quote.
Why does London show a P/E above 10 when the news says "8 times" or similar?
Different sources use different denominators. Some use household income, some use mean rather than median salary, some use a younger first-time-buyer salary cohort. We use median full-time gross salary at place of work because it's the most stable, official, and apples-to-apples across regions.
Where does the mortgage rate come from?
We default to the Bank of England's published average quoted rate on a new 2-year fixed mortgage at 75% LTV (their series IUMBV34), refreshed daily by the same Lambda that powers our macro dashboard. You can override the rate in the controls above.
How often is the underlying regional data updated?
House prices and salaries are refreshed annually after ONS publishes the new House Price Index annual averages and the new ASHE release (both come out around October each year for the previous tax year). The current dataset is dated next to the methodology section above.

Related reading

UK mortgage types in 2026

Fixed vs tracker vs offset - which fits which household.

Saving a UK house deposit

How much you actually need by region, and where to park it while you save.

40-year UK mortgages

The longer-term trade-off behind a "more affordable" monthly figure.

Invest vs pay off the mortgage

Once you have the house, the next question worth thinking about.