Housing has become harder to afford because prices and rents have pulled further away from earnings — against a population that has grown by 12.2m since 1990
House prices in England are 7.6× median earnings (2025) and rent takes over a third of income for private renters — the core mechanism. Deposits, mortgage rates and location also determine who can actually buy; supply running 91,400 homes a year below target and 12.2m more people since 1990 are demand and supply pressures layered on top, not the sole explanation.
Read this first — what else changes the meaning of the headline
- Rent as a share of income
- 36.3%
Above the 30% affordability threshold since 2016 (2023/24) — buying and renting are different affordability problems, not one number.
- Net housing supply vs target
- 70% of target
England added 208,600 net homes against a 300,000/yr target in 2024-25 — a real shortfall, but one factor among several below, not the sole explanation for affordability.
MHCLG, Housing supply: net additional dwellings, England (Live Table 120), 2024-25 (provisional; released 20 November 2025)
- Real pay since 2007
- +4.6%
Pay has grown far more slowly than house prices or rent over the same period — see the Economy page for the full picture.
- Regional price variation
- London 12×+
The 7.6× national ratio is a median across very different local markets — London buyers face a substantially worse ratio than the England-wide figure implies.
£272,000 — June 2026
UK average, up 2.0% year on year; regional outcomes differ.
View data table
| Value | £272,000 |
|---|---|
| Period | June 2026 |
| Geography | United Kingdom |
| Serving state | Verified snapshot · checked 2026-08-20 |
Source: HM Land Registry UK House Price Index · series house.price.uk · as of June 2026
Strengths
Affordability has eased from its 2022 peak
The house-price-to-earnings ratio fell from a peak of 9.1× in 2022 to 7.6× in 2025, as earnings growth outpaced price growth — still far above the 2000 ratio of 4.2×, but moving the right way for three straight years.
ONS, Housing affordability in England and Wales, 2025 editionThe planning system approves most of what reaches a decision
England’s planning approval rate has stayed consistently high even as application volumes moved with the economic cycle — the evidence on this site points to volume and delivery, not refusal rates, as the supply bottleneck.
MHCLG Planning Applications Statistics — see Growing the UK Economy: Housing and planningWeaknesses
Housing remains expensive relative to earnings
At 7.6× median full-time earnings in 2025, buying a home takes far more relative income than in 2010 (6.5×) or 2000 (4.2×), even after three years of easing.
ONS, Housing affordability in England and Wales, 2025
Supply keeps missing the government's own target
Net additional homes in England ran 91,400 below the government's 300,000-a-year target in 2024-25 — a target that has never been met.
MHCLG, Housing supply: net additional dwellings, England (Live Table 120), 2024-25 (provisional; released 20 November 2025)
Opportunities
Local-authority building has room to scale from a low base
Council housebuilding has grown from a near-zero base since the 1980s but remains a small fraction of its 1970s scale — meaning even a modest absolute increase would be a large proportional one.
MHCLG Live Table 244 — see Growing the UK Economy: Housing and planningA brownfield register already exists to steer development away from green space
A live register of brownfield sites is already published, giving planners a starting pipeline that doesn't require green belt release — though the register's own documentation says its coverage is incomplete, so it's a lower bound, not a full count.
planning.data.gov.uk Brownfield Land Register (evidence class B, incomplete coverage)Threats
An ageing population adds demand pressure just as supply stays short
The dependency ratio is rising and the OBR projects age-related spending reaching roughly 20% of GDP by 2040 — squeezing the public capacity to fund social and supported housing at the same time general supply is short.
OBR Fiscal Sustainability Report; ONS period life tables
Landlord exits are shrinking rental supply while rents keep rising
Rent now takes 36.3% of income in England, up from 25–28% in the 2000s and above the 30% affordability threshold since 2016 — driven partly by landlords leaving the sector after Section 24 tax changes.
ONS Private Rental Market Summary Statistics
For options on the table for the weaknesses and threats above, with costings — see the options on the table, with costings.
Can I Buy a Home?
House Price to Earnings Ratio 2000–2025
| Year | Price/Earnings |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 4.2–4.5× |
| 2005 | 6.0× |
| 2010 | 6.5× |
| 2015 | 7.8× |
| 2022 | 9.1× |
| 2023 | 8.4× |
| 2024 | 7.7× |
| 2025 | 7.6× |
The Supply Shortfall
England added 208,600 net homes to its housing stock in 2024-25 — 70% of the government's stated target of 300,000 new homes a year in England, a shortfall of 91,400 homes in that year alone. The target has never been met. Note that this is net supply: new build accounted for 190,600 of it, with conversions and change of use adding most of the rest and 4,630 demolitions taken off.
Net additional dwellings is MHCLG's most comprehensive measure of supply: new build, plus conversions, change of use and other gains, minus demolitions. It runs above new-build-only counts, and well above the building-control new-build series, which covers roughly 80% of house building. Comparing one against the other is the most common error in housing-supply figures.
Estimates of how many homes England "needs" — the 340,000-plus figures often quoted — come from independent modelling by academics and housing charities, not from official statistics, and they vary with the assumptions used about household formation, backlog and affordability. This site measures supply against the government's own stated target instead, because that is a published, checkable commitment.
Supply: MHCLG, Housing supply: net additional dwellings, England (Live Table 120) — England, 2024-25 (provisional; released 20 November 2025). New-build building-control series: MHCLG, Housing supply: indicators of new supply, England (building-control sourced) — 152,170 in 2024-25, Building-control sourced data covers about 80% of house building in England, so it runs below the net-additions new-build component.Affordability: ONS Housing affordability in England and Wales (2025 edition, published 2026-03-26); ONS revises the prior year's ratio when new earnings (ASHE) data arrives. Last verified 2026-08-17.
House Price to Earnings Ratio (England and Wales)
The number of years of median full-time earnings needed to buy an average home in England rose from 6.5 in 2010 to a peak of 9.1 in 2022, and stands at 7.6 in 2025 — still well above the historic norm.
View data table
| Year | Price to earnings ratio |
|---|---|
| 2010 | 6.85 |
| 2011 | 6.74 |
| 2012 | 6.76 |
| 2013 | 6.74 |
| 2014 | 6.95 |
| 2015 | 7.37 |
| 2016 | 7.59 |
| 2017 | 7.77 |
| 2018 | 7.85 |
| 2019 | 7.73 |
| 2020 | 7.82 |
| 2021 | 8.95 |
| 2022 | 8.45 |
| 2023 | 8.28 |
| 2024 | 7.74 |
| 2025 | 7.55 |
England and Wales · Source: ONS, Housing affordability in England and Wales (Table 1c, median ratio) · as of 2025 (released 26 March 2026)
Average UK House Price (£k)
The average UK house price has risen around 75% since 2010, far outpacing wage growth over the same period.
View data table
| Year | Average price (£k) |
|---|---|
| 2010 | 155 |
| 2011 | 154 |
| 2012 | 156 |
| 2013 | 164 |
| 2014 | 177 |
| 2015 | 189 |
| 2016 | 199 |
| 2017 | 208 |
| 2018 | 212 |
| 2019 | 214 |
| 2020 | 228 |
| 2021 | 245 |
| 2022 | 263 |
| 2023 | 256 |
| 2024 | 264 |
| 2025 | 269 |
United Kingdom · Source: HM Land Registry / ONS, UK House Price Index (December figure each year) · as of 2025 (latest monthly: June 2026, £272,000)
Net Additional Dwellings (England, '000s)
England has not hit the government's 300,000-home annual target in any of the last 15 years.
View data table
| Year | Net additional dwellings ('000s) |
|---|---|
| 2010 | 137 |
| 2011 | 141 |
| 2012 | 131 |
| 2013 | 142 |
| 2014 | 177 |
| 2015 | 196 |
| 2016 | 223 |
| 2017 | 228 |
| 2018 | 248 |
| 2019 | 249 |
| 2020 | 218 |
| 2021 | 234 |
| 2022 | 234 |
| 2023 | 221 |
| 2024 | 209 |
England · Source: MHCLG, Housing supply: net additional dwellings, England (Live Table 120) · as of 2024-25 (provisional; released 20 November 2025)
The Rental Crisis
Rent as a proportion of income has crossed the widely-used 30% "affordability threshold" and is still rising. Renters in England now spend over a third of their take-home pay on housing.
Key Drivers of the Rental Crisis
- •Fewer homes to rent — landlord exits driven by Section 24 tax changes and regulatory uncertainty
- •Growing demand — more people renting for longer as buying becomes out of reach
- •Rising mortgage costs passed on — landlord costs increased sharply after 2022 rate rises
- •England rents are less affordable than Wales on average
Ageing Population Pressure
An ageing population creates compound pressure on housing (more single-occupancy homes needed), health services, and public finances. The dependency ratio — ratio of working-age to non-working-age population — is rising steadily.
Why the national average doesn't describe every buyer or renter
The 7.6× price-to-earnings ratio and 36.3% rent-to-income figure are national medians. What any one household actually faces depends on several other things this page's headline numbers don't capture.
Supply is one cause among several, not the whole story
Source: MHCLG, Housing supply: net additional dwellings, England (Live Table 120), 2024-25 (provisional; released 20 November 2025)
Regional prices vary enormously around the national figure
Buying and renting are different affordability problems
Source: ONS Housing affordability in England and Wales; ONS Private Rental Market Summary Statistics
The deposit is a separate barrier from monthly affordability
Source: ONS, Housing affordability in England and Wales
More homes are needed simply to house more people
Source: ONS, Provisional population estimate for the UK: mid-2025