What 2024 tells us about the cost of owning a home across England and Wales

The idea of owning a home feels increasingly out of reach for many Britons, but the latest numbers give a clearer picture of just how far the dream lies beyond the average paycheck. In 2024 the median house in England sold for £290,000 – a price that works out to 7.7 times the median full‑time earnings of £37,600. In Wales the gap is a little narrower: a median home costs £201,000, or 5.9 times the median earnings of £34,300. After a sharp spike in affordability problems during the pandemic, those ratios have now slipped back towards pre‑COVID levels.

The national story masks a patchwork of local experiences. Only 27 local authorities – just 9% of the total – saw homes priced at less than five times local earnings, the highest share of affordable areas since 2015 but still a long way from the 88% recorded at the start of the series in 1997. The most affordable spots this year were Blaenau Gwent (ratio 3.8), Burnley (3.9) and Blackpool (3.9). At the opposite end, Kensington and Chelsea remained the least affordable, with a ratio of 27.1 – roughly seven times less affordable than the best‑performing areas.

Across the 318 local authorities, 91% reported an improvement in affordability compared with 2023, while 9% saw conditions worsen. The improvement is largely driven by earnings outpacing house‑price growth: since 2021, average earnings have risen by 20% whereas median house prices have crept up by just 1%. This shift pulled England’s overall affordability ratio down from 8.4 to 7.7 and Wales’s from 6.2 to 5.9. London, however, remains the outlier – its ratio fell from a peak of 12.9 in 2021 to 11.1 in 2024, still far above the national average.

Regional patterns reveal where the pressure is greatest. Four of the ten biggest deteriorations in affordability ratios between 2019 and 2024 occurred in the East Midlands, while every one of the ten biggest improvements came from London boroughs. The North East displayed a tight spread of ratios, with more authorities under the five‑times‑earnings threshold than above it, highlighting a relative advantage for buyers in the north.

New‑build homes add another layer to the affordability puzzle. In the year to September 2024 the average price of a newly built dwelling was £350,000, compared with £280,000 for existing homes. Yet new builds accounted for only 4.7% of all sales in England and 2.8% in Wales, meaning the bulk of the market – and the bulk of price pressure – still revolves around older stock.

For prospective buyers, the data suggest that looking beyond the South and London can dramatically improve the odds of finding a home that costs less than five times a median salary. Landlords may find stronger demand in the more affordable northern and mid‑land areas, where earnings are rising faster than prices. However, it is worth remembering that these ratios are based on median earnings and do not capture the full cost of homeownership, such as deposits, stamp duty or mortgage repayments.

In short, while earnings growth has begun to restore some balance, the housing market remains uneven. Buyers and renters alike should keep an eye on local affordability ratios, especially if they are considering a move, and policymakers will need to address the persistent supply shortfall in the most expensive regions if the goal is to make homeownership a realistic prospect for a broader swathe of the population.