House purchase deposits, as a percentage of income

A TEN per cent deposit to purchase an average-priced house has been calculated to now take up a much higher percentage of average income than it did just over two decades ago.

According to a media release issued by the Edinburgh estate agents, Coulters Property, the average-priced house in 1999 cost £49,924.

Using statistics from the UK government’s ‘Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings time series of selected estimates’, the average wage in that year was £16,914.

If a ten per cent deposit on an average-price house was £4,992, that represents 29.5 per cent of the average, £16,914 wage.

Fast forward to 2020, and the average-priced property had leapt to £152,469, with average earnings rising to £30,000.

Meaning a ten per cent deposit of £15,247 representing some 50.7 per cent of average earnings.

Coulters’ methodology involved not just the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings time series of selected estimates, but also the Land Registry’s UK House Price Index.

Source: Coulters Property media release issued July 22 2020.

Picture: Portobello, Edinburgh

Picture credit: PlaceDesignScotland