- Cumnock in Scotland is the most affordable town to buy in Britain
- Typical buyers pay a little more than 1 times their annual salary for a home
- We look at the other locations that make the list of cheapest places to buy
Cumnock in Scotland is officially the most affordable town in Britain to buy a house, according to Zoopla.
The typical house in the East Ayrshire town costs £79,030, almost £200,000 less than the average British home, according to the property’s website.
Zoopla says the average two-income household will have to pay four times their combined annual income to buy a typical British home worth £276,000.
But in Cumnock the amount needed to buy an average home falls to just 1.04 times the combined local salary.
Value: Cumnock in Scotland is officially the most affordable town in Britain to buy a house, according to Zoopla
Marion Wyllie, estate agent for DW Shaw in Cumnock, says the town has a lot to offer.
“Cumnock is located in the heart of rural Ayrshire and offers a range of amenities,” says Wyllie. ‘This includes independent family shops, a leisure center with swimming pool, supermarkets and a modern community hospital.
‘There is a nearby train station at Auchinleck, while the market town of Ayr is approximately 16 miles away and offers a wider range of amenities including excellent shopping, transport and leisure facilities.’
Zoopla looked at the most common property type in each UK city and then compared the typical property value with the average salary for each local area to determine the relationship between house price and profit.
It found that eight of the ten most affordable cities in Britain were in Scotland, with a house price-to-income ratio ranging between 1.04 and 1.31 times the annual income of dual-income couples.
Shildon and Peterlee in the north east of England were the only towns in the top 10 outside Scotland.
A view of the town of Cumnock from the countryside: The town is located in the heart of rural Ayrshire
In cash terms, Shildon in County Durham has the cheapest house prices of anywhere in Britain, at just under £70,000.
The most common property type in Shildon is a two-bedroom terraced house. Buying a typical property in this area would cost two local buyers 1.06 times their gross annual income.
Peterlee, also in County Durham, takes second place in England, with houses typically costing two local buyers 1.3 times their gross annual income to purchase.
For those who would like to live somewhere other than northern England and Scotland, it’s not all bad news either.
Thanks to falling house prices in many areas, there are now areas with ‘better’ affordability across the country, according to Zoopla.
It says 80 percent of local markets are experiencing falling house prices, combined with rising wages among locals.
Teignmouth and Newton Abbot, both in South East Devon, come first and second as the towns with the biggest improvement in affordability, according to Zoopla.
This part of Devon saw stronger profit growth, while house prices fell by an average of £19,000.
Surprisingly, beautiful commuter towns such as historic Rochester and Gravesend in Kent and Hockley in Essex also made the list, thanks to average house prices falling by 2.7 per cent in those areas.
At the other end of the scale, buyers in Radlett, Essex can expect to pay 11.36 times their gross annual salary – 11 times that of Cumnock and the highest on this list.
| Village | Region | Median home value | Annual income 2 x earners | Price-earnings ratio 2 x earners |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teignmouth | South West | £335,080 | £63,783 | 5.25 |
| Newton Abbot | South West | £318,200 | £63,783 | 4.99 |
| Fleet wood | North West | £123,230 | £67,829 | 1.82 |
| Radlett | East of England | £885,180 | £77,928 | 11.36 |
| Hockley | East of England | £444,980 | £88,347 | 5.04 |
| Gravesend | Southeast | £352,410 | £80,639 | 4.37 |
| Rochester | Southeast | £326,505 | £72,953 | 4.48 |
| Gillingham | Southeast | £303,130 | £72,953 | 4.16 |
| Brentwood | Eastern England | £507,680 | £100,495 | 5.05 |
| Cranbrook | Southeast | £502,100 | £81,803 | 6.14 |
| Credit: Zoopla | ||||
Izabella Lubowiecka, senior property researcher at Zoopla, said: ‘High mortgage rates have made it a tough year for potential buyers, so affordability is still a hot topic.
‘However, thanks to rising wages and falling house prices in four out of five markets, we have seen movement on the list of most affordable cities for the first time in many years, especially in London and commuter areas.
‘Our data can help buyers make informed decisions about where else their money goes in Britain.’