Durham is the most affordable place to buy a house in UK while Oxford is most unaffordable 

Revealed: Durham is the most affordable place to buy a house in UK for second year running while Oxford tops list of most unaffordable

  • Average house prices in Durham currently stand at £103,668 while Oxford homes are priced at around £421,617 on average
  • In Oxford, prices would need to fall by 70 per cent to £126,800, for someone with a 20 per cent deposit earning an average wage, to afford to buy
  • Stoke is the second most affordable city, where prices average £114,301
  • Property prices need to fall by an average 37 per cent to £125,400 to make owning a home affordable for a single person with an average salary

Durham is the most affordable place to buy a house in Britain for the second year running while Oxford is the least affordable, it has been revealed.

Average house prices in Durham currently stand at £103,668 while Oxford homes are priced at £421,617 on average, research suggests.

For someone with an average salary for that city and a mortgage three-and-a-half times that salary, prices in Durham could rise by 16 per cent and still be affordable.  

But in Oxford, prices would need to fall by 70 per cent to £126,800, for someone with a 20 per cent deposit earning an average wage, to afford to buy.

The second most unaffordable city in the UK is the City of Westminster, where a drop of 69 per cent from £984,511 to £300,378 would be required.

In Oxford, prices would need to fall by 70 per cent to £126,800, for someone with a 20 per cent deposit earning an average wage, to afford to buy (file photo)

Cambridge is the third-most unaffordable city, where average house prices standing at £437,288 would require a price fall of 67 per cent down to £145,359.

Meanwhile, Open Property Group claims that Stoke-on-Trent is the second most affordable city to buy a house, where prices average £114,301.

Prices in Stoke need to fall four per cent to £110,184 for a single person to buy, while house prices in Hull – at £112,904 – would require a 12 per cent fall to £98,975. 

A spokesman for the group said that, this year, property prices in cities across England, Scotland and Wales need to fall by an average of 37 per cent to £125,400 to make owning a home affordable for a single person with an average salary.   

Average house prices in Durham currently stand at £103,668 while Oxford homes are priced at £421,617 on average, research suggests (stock photo)

Average house prices in Durham currently stand at £103,668 while Oxford homes are priced at £421,617 on average, research suggests (stock photo)

Top 10 MOST affordable UK cities 

1. Durham

2. Stoke-on-Trent

3. Hull

4. Sunderland

5. Liverpool

6. Preston

7. Bradford

8. Newcastle upon Tyne

9. Carlisle

10. Derby 

Top 10 LEAST affordable UK cities 

1. Oxford

2. City of Westminster

3. Cambridge

4. Brighton and Hove

5. Chichester

6. Bath

7. St Albans

8. Chelmsford

9. Exeter

10. Bristol 

Speaking to MailOnline, Open Property Group managing director Jason Harris-Cohen said: ‘In terms of average house prices, I believe that property prices have already fallen five per cent since the Covid-19 outbreak, however, we may notice further regional falls depending on micro economic and social issues, as some geographic areas have experienced greater outbreaks of this virus.

‘For government initiatives, I think that the government should offer a stamp duty holiday to home movers for an initial period.

‘I would like to see government-backed loans for property buyers to encourage lending and create more liquidity in the market. 

‘Lenders are going to be risk averse in the short term and therefore any reluctance to lend will lead to lower mortgage approvals and ultimately less transactions.’