Average first-time buyer home costs five-and-a-half times earnings

First-time buyers face paying five-and-a-half times typical annual earnings to get on the property ladder, according to a report. As house prices have surged, the average first-time buyer house price-to-gross earnings ratio in the third quarter of this year was 5.5, surpassing a previous high of 5.4 in 2007. The figures by Nationwide Building Society show a 20% deposit on a home now equates to 110% of the pre-tax income of a typical full-time employee – which is also a record high and up from 102% a year ago. While a significant gap between the least affordable and most affordable regions remains across the UK, this has remained broadly stable over the last year. Scotland continues to have the lowest house price to earnings ratio in the country at 3.4, followed by the North of England at 3.5.

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