UK housing data reveals £1 million gap between cheapest and priciest regions

According to the Office of National Statistics, the average UK house price hit £273,000 in 2026, a modest 0.9% increase from the previous year and a slowdown from earlier months. Average full-time earnings rose 4.5% to £40,911, leaving the national price-to-earnings ratio at 6.7-to-1, the lowest level since 2015. Regional disparities are stark: Inverclyde in Scotland records the lowest average price at £115,000, more than £1 million below the £1.2 million average in Kensington and Chelsea, which also has the highest price-to-income ratio at 20.6-to-1.

Other affordable markets include Aberdeen, Burnley and West Dunbartonshire, where ratios range from 3.0 to 4.0. Conversely, London boroughs such as Richmond upon Thames, Camden and Westminster, plus Surrey’s Elmbridge and Mole Valley, exhibit ratios above 12-to-1. The data highlights a growing divide in housing affordability across the United Kingdom.