17 Jun 2019
Glasgow takes top spot for first-time buyer affordability
Glasgow has been ranked as the top spot for first-time buyer affordability across all major cities in the UK.
Financial services firm OneFamily says the average cost of a home for a new buyer in the Scottish city is £122,500, while the average salary is £29,161.
After a 15% home deposit is taken into account, this gives Glasgow a ratio of price v salary of 3.6 - the most favourable in the country.
Second best is Liverpool on 3.7, while Aberdeen is fifth on the top 10 list with 4.5.
Among the most expensive locations in the UK are London with a ratio of 11.4 and Brighton on 10.8.
Get on the ladder quicker
OneFamily says not only do buyers in the most affordable cities get a lower mortgage, it also means they are able to get on the property ladder much quicker when they are saving towards a first home.
On average, across the UK, it takes first-time buyers 10 and a half years to save for a 15% deposit on their new home.
But in Glasgow a first-time buyer saving 10% of their salary a month would only have to save for just over six years.
In London, it could take more than three times as long - 20 years.
Nici Audhlam-Gardiner, managing director of lifetime ISAs at OneFamily, said: "As these numbers demonstrate, there are affordable places to buy in the UK - and the ratios between salary and average property price make buying a first home significantly more achievable."
The top 10 UK cities for first-time buyer affordability are:
| Location | Average earnings | Typical property cost | Ratio of price vs salary, after 15% deposit |
| Glasgow | £29,161 | £122,500 | 3.6 |
| Liverpool | £27,596 | £120,300 | 3.7 |
| Newcastle | £28,818 | £131,200 | 3.9 |
| Sheffield | £27,383 | £137,200 | 4.3 |
| Aberdeen | £30,362 | £159,600 | 4.5 |
| Bradford | £25,443 | £134,948 | 4.5 |
| Sunderland | £25,724 | £142,543 | 4.7 |
| Hull | £24,900 | £140,151 | 4.8 |
| Manchester | £29,682 | £168,900 | 4.8 |
| Birmingham | £28,568 | £163,600 | 4.9 |
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