How has affordability changed over the past decade?

Homes across more than half of the UK are more affordable now than before the financial crisis according to new research by the Yorkshire Building Society who analysed changes in local house prices and earnings since 2007.

The gap between the least and most affordable parts of Britain has doubled over the last decade, with housing affordability having fallen across all of London’s 32 boroughs.

Homes in cities including Birmingham, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Leeds, Harrogate, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Cardiff and Exeter are now more affordable than they were 10 years ago, while across Cambridge, Oxford, Bristol, Manchester, Nottingham and York property price rises have outstripped wage growth

With the communities secretary announcing a new methodology for new build development based on household projections and affordability criteria, local authorities with high affordability ratios could be expected to build up to 40% more than their current targets.