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Revealed: the 10 most affordable London boroughs to buy a home

After comparing the average salary to the average house price, these areas have been crowned the cheapest

Maddie Balcombe
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Maddie Balcombe
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Houses in Tower Hamlets, London
Photograph: Shutterstock
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It’s no secret that London’s housing market is a waking nightmare. From astronomic rents to house prices that fluctuate almost as much as the weather, right now navigating this city’s housing options is tougher than its ever been. 

Chief among this city’s property market problems is London’s priciness – and everyone knows that this city ain’t cheap. In fact, recent research revealed that the ten most expensive streets in Britain are all right here in the capital. 

But don’t worry, it’s not all bad news. According to South Park Removals, London house prices fell by 5.2 percent last year, the largest decline in the whole of the UK. And house prices have fallen faster in some parts of the city than others. South Park Removals compared average house prices and average salaries across London’s 32 boroughs to come up with the 10 boroughs that are most affordable to buy a home.  

Tower Hamlets took the crown as London’s most affordable borough to live in. The average Tower Hamlets salary was between £78,000 to £80,000 and the average house price was £575,183. So, the average salary was just 13.9 percent of the average house cost.

Havering came in second place, with the average salary equating to 10 percent of the average housing price, and Barking and Dagenham took third. Take a look at the full list here:

The 10 most affordable London boroughs to buy a home

  1. Tower Hamlets (average salary equals 13.9 percent of average house price)
  2. Havering (average salary equals 10 percent of average house price)
  3. Barking and Dagenham/Newham (average salary equals 9.5 percent of average house price)
  4. Bexley (average salary equals 8.8 percent of average house price)
  5. Croydon (average salary equals 8.4 percent of average house price)
  6. Bromley (average salary equals 8.1 percent of average house price)
  7. Southwark (average salary equals  8 percent of average house price)
  8. Hillingdon (average salary equals 7.8 percent of average house price)
  9. Greenwich/Sutton (average salary equals 7.7 percent of average house price)
  10. Lewisham (average salary equals 7.4 percent of average house price)

So, next time you’re scrolling through Rightmove, daydreaming about what living in London could be like, check out these borough’s for some slightly more reasonable offerings.

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