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How many years of salary to buy a house in Cambridge?

Buying an average home in Cambridge (East of England) takes about 10.7 years of full-time salary: the average house price of £462,145 (HM Land Registry UKHPI, April 2026) divided by median full-time earnings of £43,204 a year (ONS ASHE 2024). That is less affordable than the UK average ratio of 7.2.

Price-to-earnings ratio
10.7×
years of gross salary
Average house price
£462,145
UKHPI
Median full-time salary
£43,204
ASHE 2024
10% deposit
£46,215
15% deposit
£69,322
Loan multiple (10% down)
9.6×
lenders cap ~4.5×

How this is measured. This ratio divides the UKHPI average (mean) house price by ASHE full-time median individual earnings. The ONS official “Housing affordability” statistic uses median price ÷ median earnings, so the two are close but not identical. All three inputs are official, open-licensed figures — none are estimated.

Similar areas by affordability

See also: rent vs buy in Cambridge · full house prices in Cambridge

Frequently asked questions

How many years of salary does it take to buy a house in Cambridge?
In Cambridge the average home costs £462,145 (HM Land Registry UKHPI, April 2026) against full-time median earnings of £43,204 a year (ONS ASHE 2024). That is a house-price-to-earnings ratio of 10.7 — it would take about 10.7 years of gross salary to equal the average house price.
What deposit do you need to buy in Cambridge?
A 10% deposit on the £462,145 average Cambridge home is £46,215, and a 15% deposit is £69,322 (based on HM Land Registry UKHPI, April 2026).
Is buying in Cambridge more or less affordable than the UK average?
Cambridge's house-price-to-earnings ratio is 10.7, versus 7.2 for the UK as a whole — so buying here is less affordable than the UK average.
How big a mortgage would you need to buy in Cambridge?
After a 10% deposit you would need to borrow £415,931 on the average Cambridge home — about 9.6× the £43,204 full-time median salary. Most UK lenders cap mortgages around 4.5× income.

Sources: house price — HM Land Registry — UK House Price Index (UKHPI) (April 2026); earnings — ONS — Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) 2024. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. This data is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. ASHE and UKHPI are published under the Open Government Licence v3.0.