The UK's most affordable cities

The UK’s northern cities offer young professionals a much greater chance of getting on the housing ladder despite lower starting salaries, according to Knight Frank research.

Knight Frank research has taken a look at house prices in relation to regional average earnings for those aged between 22 and 39 to look at which cities are most affordable for young professionals looking to get onto the housing ladder.

According to the study of 25 cities across the UK, Durham is the most affordable city to buy a home, followed closely by Nottingham and Liverpool. The most affordable city in the south is Hastings, closely followed by Canterbury.

Grainne Gilmore, Head of UK Residential research comments: ‘London holds a lure for graduates and young professionals as job creation is higher there than elsewhere. But graduate vacancies are starting to rise across the UK on the back of stronger economic performance. Our snapshot of some key UK cities shows that for young people keen to buy a home, their ability to climb onto the ladder is greater if they move to the North of England, even if their comparable earnings are more modest than those living in the South.’

In Scotland, the annual salary for the three cities is higher than the majority of the cities in England, at £27,938. This therefore makes Glasgow an affordable alternative with average house prices at £124, 496, ranked at 4.5. Both Aberdeen and Edinburgh are less affordable at 7.4 and 7.7 but, as Ran Morgan, Head of Knight Frank Scotland explains: ‘Both Aberdeen and Edinburgh have unique qualities which is why they might command more of a premium. Aberdeen’s oil business and long and sandy coastline and Edinburgh’s UNESCO status attracts Londoners and overseas buyers too.'

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