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

Buying an average home in Scotland takes about 5.0 years of full-time salary: the average house price of £191,927 (HM Land Registry UKHPI, April 2026) divided by median full-time earnings of £38,315 a year (ONS ASHE 2024). That is more affordable than the UK average ratio of 7.2.

Price-to-earnings ratio
5.0×
years of gross salary
Average house price
£191,927
UKHPI
Median full-time salary
£38,315
ASHE 2024
10% deposit
£19,193
15% deposit
£28,789
Loan multiple (10% down)
4.5×
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 Scotland · full house prices in Scotland

Frequently asked questions

How many years of salary does it take to buy a house in Scotland?
In Scotland the average home costs £191,927 (HM Land Registry UKHPI, April 2026) against full-time median earnings of £38,315 a year (ONS ASHE 2024). That is a house-price-to-earnings ratio of 5.0 — it would take about 5.0 years of gross salary to equal the average house price.
What deposit do you need to buy in Scotland?
A 10% deposit on the £191,927 average Scotland home is £19,193, and a 15% deposit is £28,789 (based on HM Land Registry UKHPI, April 2026).
Is buying in Scotland more or less affordable than the UK average?
Scotland's house-price-to-earnings ratio is 5.0, versus 7.2 for the UK as a whole — so buying here is more affordable than the UK average.
How big a mortgage would you need to buy in Scotland?
After a 10% deposit you would need to borrow £172,734 on the average Scotland home — about 4.5× the £38,315 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.