Only one industry in the UK pays a salary high enough to afford the average house price, according to a new study from Go.Compare.
The figures estimate that an annual income of £56,476 is now needed for a single person to comfortably afford the mortgage repayments on the average UK house price of £270,000. Yet, only the financial and insurance activities industry provides a median salary high enough to achieve this, at £58,488.
The UK’s second highest-paid industry (electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply) falls marginally short at £55,469 - just over £1,000 less than the amount required. The information and communication industry provides the third-highest median salary at £52,264 - £4,212 under the target amount.
The nation’s lowest-paid industry is accommodation and food services, in which the median salary is £28,687 – almost half the amount needed to afford a home comfortably. The household goods and services industry provides the second-lowest median salary at £31,400, leaving workers £25,000 short of the income required.
As a result, over half (55%) of non-homeowners say they don’t believe they’ll ever be able to buy a property, compared to just 37% who believe they will be.
The number of people who consider home ownership to be important is also declining. Just over half (55%) of non-homeowners said they still feel home ownership is important – a drop from 76% when Go.Compare last asked a similar question in 2024.
Nathan Blackler, home insurance spokesperson at Go.Compare, said: “It’s shocking to see that only one of our industries is offering a big enough wage for its workers to afford the average UK home. Although these are only median salaries, they reflect the difficult situation that most renters and residents who haven’t yet bought a property find themselves in.
“Simply put, house prices have accelerated far beyond wage growth in recent years, placing properties way out of budget for the average worker. The gap has started to close since the last time we conducted this research, but when home ownership is this unattainable, more definitely needs to be done to support first-time buyers."
