- Median individual income: £31,000 (£598/week[0]) - $40K USD
- Average house asking price £360,000 [1] - $450K USD
- For a couple both on a dual median income that means the national average house price is 5.8x typical household income.
- Banks aren't allowed to offer mortgages of more than 4.5x income to more than 85% of their clients, which means such a couple are tasked at finding 1.3x their joint income (£80K or $100K USD) to get started
- Affordability isn't bad if you can cobble together the equity/deposit. An 85% LTV mortgage on a 5 year fix is around ~2.4% right now, so a £360K average home will have a mortgage of ~£1,200/mo ($1,500/mo USD, which is around 30% of such a couples take home pay).
- The bad news is interest rates are currently rising, at the same time as house prices, and the cost of living
- Worse news is if this fictional couple want kids they're likely going down to a single income, which puts it out of reach completely.
[0] https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwor... [1] https://www.rightmove.co.uk/news/house-price-index/