London house prices still too high for key workers

Key public sector workers still find it almost impossible to buy homes in London, despite the fall in House prices over the past year.

Figures compiled by Halifax show that key workers can now afford to buy a home in 21 per cent of towns in the UK.

In the third quarter of 2007 those workers could only purchase a house of their own in three per cent of towns, but the bank's report concluded that it was the teachers, paramedics and nurses of northern England, Wales and Scotland who had benefited from declining property values.

Not a single one of the affordable towns was in the south of England, while Camden, Hammersmith and Fulham, and Kensington and Chelsea were named on the list of least affordable areas.

Public sector workers looking for property to rent in Camden or the other London boroughs where purchase prices remain beyond their reach may, however, find they can negotiate a good deal.

A recent report by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors concluded that the cost of both houses and flats to rent in London is falling.

Written by Martyn Glynn

Published 26th May, 2009

© 2009 Estates IT Limited