Top-tier Towns to Purchase a Property in the UK: The Affordable Version

Struggling to make your dream of being a property owner come true and also afraid of a possible housing crash in 2022? Keep on reading to get a leg up on the issue and learn about the most affordable towns to buy a home in the UK!

Should we brace ourselves for a housing crash?

The cost of living is ever-growing, and many of us wonder if the economic post-Covid era is the right time to become a homeowner. According to statistics, we can all take a breather! There is no housing crash in sight. In fact, the housing market will most definitely slow down later this year, thus decreasing the number of sales as well as the house prices. Despite landing in economic hot water, the real estate market proves to be much more resilient than we have thought. A lot has changed throughout the years, and the world pandemic was just yet another obstacle to leave its mark on our lives.

In comparison, a bit more than a third of property-buyers in 2007 who took out a mortgage didn’t prove their income to the bank. Now, the rules to get a mortgage are much tougher, which leads to people needing to prove much more about their income and outgoings. Potential home-buyers in the UK are less vulnerable to hypothetical negative equity.

Another thing that has changed is that now the London property market along with the South East property market aren’t the only ones with the biggest house price growth. Wales, the Midlands as well as the South East are tracking double-digit house price gains. It seems as if real estate in United Kingdom is experiencing a never-before-seen process of balancing out the value of housing.

The pandemic has made us realize that hybrid working is here to stay: the newest research shows that a staggering 42% of people are planning to work mostly from home!

On top of that, 54% of those choosing to work from home were much keener on moving. Evidently, moving houses has been greatly influenced by working-from-home patterns, and this trend is expected to only prevail in the coming years.

The main takeaway is that the current economic cycle is much more suitable for those planning to either buy or sell a property. House prices all over the UK are evening up, inciting citizens to put their old homes up for sale and purchase brand-new ones while the post-Covid patterns encourage moving houses even more!

The most affordable towns to settle in the UK: 2022 edition

So, you’ve made up your mind and want to purchase a home, you are even prepared to move to another part of the UK if that means finding the best option price-wise.

In this section, we have compiled a list of the most affordable towns to choose from. House price-to-earnings ratios acquired from a household with 2 breadwinners with the average salary for the particular area were analyzed to reveal the cheapest town to buy a home in the UK in 2022. 

Shildon in County Durham is a deserving winner in the category of most affordable towns to buy a property in the UK. In order to purchase a house, the average household in the country is generally expected to pay four times their combined salaries – in Shildon, this number decreases to 1.1 times! 

Due to being a truly picturesque place to settle in, there are two more County Durham locations on the list – Ferryhill and Peterlee where buyers can expect to pay 1.29 and 1.35 times the average two-earner household salary.

Cleator Moor does rightfully take second place with a 1.34 house price-to-earnings ratio.  Two other locations in Copeland – Egremont, and Millom are also present in the list, proving this community in the UK also to be a favorable choice with ratios of 1.41 and 1.53, respectively.

The historic Ayrshire of Scotland features 4 marvelous towns: Stevenson, Cumnock, Girvan, and Irvine. Although Stevenson has the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (1.31), Cumnock, with its 1.34, comes right after.

Irvine has only entered the competition in 2022. Still, it has already proved to be a really decent option, and running right after Girvan – 1.49 and 1.50 times the average two-earner household salary accordingly.

The pandemic seems to have awakened the desire for a calm and peaceful country lifestyle, and for those wanting to get off the rat race, these locations are a perfect retreat. Not only are they breathtaking, but the cost of homes in these areas is also something the average British household of two earners can manage. 

The apparent appetite for rural life does not completely overrule the trend for city center living: affordability pockets are evident in all major UK cities. For instance, Barking & Dagenham in London, Leigh in Manchester, Wallsend in Newcastle, and Brierley Hill in Dudley.

Despite this constant battle between rural and urban life, you don’t need to study the top-10 list very hard to see that so many of the cheapest locations for potential home buyers are spread across the North of England and Scotland. 

Take a look at the list yourself and decide which town has the potential to be called your home! Thanks to this affordability data, you are destined to make the best choice.

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TOP-10 MOST AFFORDABLE UK TOWNS TO PURCHASE A PROPERTY

Conclusion.

Buying a home is one of the most responsible and tough undertakings in one’s life. Everything changes so fast, but with the right knowledge and enough research, you are bound to make the correct decision. Hopefully, we have been useful, and soon there will be one more happy homeowner in the UK!