HM Land Registry & ONS data
Pay vs house prices
Houses used to cost a few years’ salary. Now they cost many times more. See exactly how much harder it is to buy a home today than in the year you choose.
Buying the average home is 1.8× harder on typical pay than in 2000.
If house prices had risen in line with wages since 2000, the average home would cost £165,280 today — instead of £292,095. That's £126,815 more than pay can explain.
Average house price (HM Land Registry, England) vs median full-time salary (ONS ASHE). A guide to the long-run trend, not a precise valuation.
House price to earnings ratio over time
Why buying a home got so much harder
Since the late 1990s, average house prices have risen far faster than wages. A home that cost around 3.3× a typical salary in 1997 now costs about 7.2×. Because lenders typically cap borrowing at 4 to 4.5 times income, the gap has to be bridged with a much bigger deposit — which is why first-time buyers increasingly rely on family help or schemes like the Mortgage Guarantee Scheme.
See how it plays out where you live on our house prices by area pages, work out how much your home has gained, or plan a deposit with the best way to save. You can also check whether your own pay has kept up with the cost of living with the inflation calculator.
Frequently asked questions
How many times my salary is the average house?
The average home in England now costs about 7.2 times a typical full-time salary, up from around 3.3 times in 1997. Lenders usually offer 4 to 4.5 times income, which is why affordability is so stretched.
Have wages kept up with house prices?
No. Since the late 1990s average house prices have risen far faster than average wages, so homes cost a much larger multiple of earnings than they used to — the core reason buying a first home is harder now.
What would a house cost if prices had tracked wages?
Use the tool above: pick a year and it shows what the average home would cost today if it had only risen in line with wages since then — usually far less than the actual price.
Average house price: HM Land Registry (England). Median full-time earnings: ONS ASHE. A guide to the long-run trend.