Survey shows 81 per cent of people in Bradford could purchase property (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Survey shows 81 per cent of people in Bradford could purchase property

9:57pm Wednesday 10th March 2010 in

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Bradford has been named the UK’s most affordable area as a survey revealed the vast majority of employed people living in the district can afford to buy a home.

Workers on average wages should still be able to secure mortgages to buy 81 per cent of homes on the market in the district, despite a rise in prices last year.

Slight increases in earnings, combined with falling mortgage rates, have helped to offset the price rises, according to property website Zoopla.co.uk.

Saltaire-based property expert Patrick McCutcheon, head of residential sales for Dacre Son & Hartley estate agents, said: “Bradford and the surrounding area has a lot to offer with plenty of choice and affordability across a broad spectrum of property types and price ranges.

“Given that, I’m not surprised it has topped the table.”

Affordability levels vary across the country, with homes more affordable in the North than in the South, despite the higher incomes in the South.

The property survey revealed 58 per cent of homes in the UK were affordable, based on people spending up to a third of their pay on repayments. This compares with levels of just 34 per cent when property prices peaked in 2007.

Hull is the second most affordable city, with 81 per cent of working residents able to buy a home. It is followed by Stoke (80 per cent) and Birmingham and Coventry, (both 78 per cent).

Housing in London is the least affordable, with only 32 per cent of people on local salaries able to afford to buy in the capital.

Nicholas Leeming, commercial director of Zoopla.co.uk, said: “Affordability rates have improved substantially over the past couple of years as a result of lower mortgage rates and falling house prices that have now begun to stabilise.”

Meanwhile, a separate study showed people could save an average of £243 a month on mortgages by buying a property further away from their local town or city and commuting to work.

Property search engine Gartoo.co.uk said some people could save a fortune.