Highlighting the result of decades of house price growth that has outstripped household incomes, the Office for National Statistics said the cost of buying a home was "unaffordable" in every part of the UK except Northern Ireland.
It said it would take as many as 8.6 years of average annual household disposable income in England - £35,000 - to afford an average-priced home, worth £298,000 last year. That is almost double the ratio in 1999.
The equivalent ratios were 5.8 in Wales, 5.6 in Scotland and five in Northern Ireland, where the average property is only just considered within reach for most families.
This story is from the December 10, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
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This story is from the December 10, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
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