For many young people in London, buying their own property seems like a distant, unlikely goal. Despite a number of first-time buyer schemes now available, these would-be buyers remain put off by steep house prices, while others believe it’s more to do with the millennial generation’s frivolous spending habits. We decided to put these two theories to the test.
For every London borough, we crunched some numbers to get an estimate of how long different sacrifices would take to pay off in the form of a typical starter home. Would living on a budget be enough to save up for a house in London? If you want to know the saving times for other regions, check out our UK cities mortgage leaderboard.
Select a borough on the map below to explore our findings.
As you can see, the only feasible way to save up for a house is to move in with your parents, which is not always an option.
For less central boroughs, ditching transport costs in favour of a bike could save enough for a house in the ballpark of ten years. However, people living there are unlikely to be able to avoid using public transport, particularly if they work in the city.
A couple saving together, however, would obviously achieve their goal twice as fast.
Other frugal habits, although they would save money, won’t make a significant contribution towards a deposit.
On the whole, millennials hoping to buy a house need a healthy salary and cheaper rent.
We ranked the boroughs in terms of how easy they are to save up for compared to the average. The borough of Barking and Dagenham sits comfortably at the top – unsurprisingly, since it has the lowest median dwelling prices – while Kensington and Chelsea was found to be the priciest.
Click any of the column headers to re-order the table.
| Affordability rank | Borough | Average flat price | Estimated monthly rent | Estimated deposit for mortgage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barking and Dagenham | £200,000 | £414 | £30,400 |
| 2 | Havering | £233,000 | £412 | £35,416 |
| 3 | Bexley | £230,000 | £401 | £34,960 |
| 4 | Sutton | £266,750 | £444 | £40,546 |
| 5 | Croydon | £268,850 | £433 | £40,865 |
| 6 | Hillingdon | £276,375 | £430 | £42,009 |
| 7 | Enfield | £290,000 | £483 | £44,080 |
| 8 | Redbridge | £275,000 | £411 | £41,800 |
| 9 | Bromley | £315,000 | £509 | £47,880 |
| 10 | Hounslow | £323,000 | £545 | £49,096 |
| 11 | Harrow | £327,000 | £462 | £49,704 |
| 12 | Newham | £310,000 | £430 | £47,120 |
| 13 | Merton | £359,950 | £554 | £54,712 |
| 14 | Lewisham | £348,000 | £508 | £52,896 |
| 15 | Waltham Forest | £340,000 | £452 | £51,680 |
| 16 | Kingston upon Thames | £370,000 | £529 | £56,240 |
| 17 | Barnet | £384,999 | £535 | £58,520 |
| 18 | Brent | £375,000 | £525 | £57,000 |
| 19 | Greenwich | £375,000 | £516 | £57,000 |
| 20 | Haringey | £395,000 | £562 | £60,040 |
| 21 | Ealing | £400,000 | £500 | £60,800 |
| 22 | Richmond upon Thames | £450,000 | £691 | £68,400 |
| 23 | Tower Hamlets | £460,000 | £656 | £69,920 |
| 24 | Lambeth | £465,000 | £676 | £70,680 |
| 25 | Southwark | £460,000 | £627 | £69,920 |
| 26 | Hackney | £492,500 | £693 | £74,860 |
| 27 | Wandsworth | £572,050 | £712 | £86,952 |
| 28 | Islington | £570,000 | £809 | £86,640 |
| 29 | Hammersmith and Fulham | £616,000 | £704 | £93,632 |
| 30 | Camden | £665,000 | £895 | £101,080 |
| 31 | City of London | £833,200 | £1,287 | £126,646 |
| 32 | Westminster | £975,000 | £1,182 | £148,200 |
| 33 | Kensington and Chelsea | £1,022,500 | £1,250 | £155,420 |
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