Homebuyers in Kensington and Chelsea now need the equivalent of almost 22 years of local salary to buy the average property, more than double the level required two decades ago.
Research from Trade Door Handles, which analysed house prices and full-time salaries across more than 300 local authorities in England and Wales, found London overwhelmingly dominates the areas where affordability has deteriorated most sharply.
In Kensington and Chelsea, the ratio increased from 10.68 years of salary in 2002 to 21.87 years in 2025 – an additional 11.19 years and the largest increase recorded.
House prices in the borough increased at an average annual rate of 4.81% over the period, compared with salary growth of just 1.6%.
LONDON AFFORDABILITY SQUEEZE
Hammersmith and Fulham recorded the second-largest deterioration, with the equivalent cost of a home increasing from around 8.5 years of local salary to almost 15 years – a rise of 6.28 years.
Waltham Forest followed with an increase of 6.17 years. The research found property prices there had risen at an average annual rate of 6.03%, compared with salary growth of 2.7%.
Ealing and Haringey completed the five areas where affordability had deteriorated most significantly, with the salary-to-house-price measure increasing by 6.13 and 5.99 years respectively.
Brent and Hillingdon also featured in the top 10, meaning seven of the 10 areas experiencing the largest deterioration were London boroughs.
SOUTH EAST ALSO HIT
Outside the capital, Mole Valley recorded an increase equivalent to 5.72 years of local salary, followed by Hertsmere at 5.63 years and Chichester at 5.61 years.
The analysis calculated how many years of gross local salary would theoretically equal the average property price and does not represent the number of years a household would actually need to save to purchase a home.
A spokesperson for Trade Door Handles says: “Twenty years ago, a family on an average income could still afford to buy one of the cheaper homes on the market. That is no longer the case. By 2021, that same family could only reach the bottom 10% of properties, and even those are getting harder to afford.
“The real problem is that wages stopped keeping up after the 2008 financial crisis and never caught back up. Low-income families always knew buying a home was difficult. What is new is that middle-income families are now hitting the same barrier.”
