How many years of salary to buy a house in London?
Buying an average home in London takes about 11.6 years of full-time salary: the average house price of £552,655 (HM Land Registry UKHPI, April 2026) divided by median full-time earnings of £47,455 a year (ONS ASHE 2024). That is less affordable than the UK average ratio of 7.2.
- Price-to-earnings ratio
- 11.6×
- years of gross salary
- Average house price
- £552,655
- UKHPI
- Median full-time salary
- £47,455
- ASHE 2024
- 10% deposit
- £55,266
- 15% deposit
- £82,898
- Loan multiple (10% down)
- 10.5×
- 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 London · full house prices in London
Frequently asked questions
- How many years of salary does it take to buy a house in London?
- In London the average home costs £552,655 (HM Land Registry UKHPI, April 2026) against full-time median earnings of £47,455 a year (ONS ASHE 2024). That is a house-price-to-earnings ratio of 11.6 — it would take about 11.6 years of gross salary to equal the average house price.
- What deposit do you need to buy in London?
- A 10% deposit on the £552,655 average London home is £55,266, and a 15% deposit is £82,898 (based on HM Land Registry UKHPI, April 2026).
- Is buying in London more or less affordable than the UK average?
- London's house-price-to-earnings ratio is 11.6, 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 London?
- After a 10% deposit you would need to borrow £497,390 on the average London home — about 10.5× the £47,455 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.