The house price gap - Analysis of house prices and earnings

By: Kantar Public
Published: February 2014

The house price gap - Analysis of house prices and earnings

The analysis shows that house prices have vastly outstripped wages, leaving homes more unaffordable across the country. If wages had risen as fast as house prices had, an average couple with children would earn an extra £44,000 a year. An average single person in England would have an extra £29,000 on top of their salary while an average couple without children would have an extra £59,000. On a local level, homes have become more unaffordable in every local authority since 1997 meaning that the problem is far from focussed on one area of the country. Increasing unaffordability will mean that more and more families are priced out of home ownership and unable to access social housing, left in unstable short term private lets unable to plan and put down roots.