Brighton and Hove is Britain’s second least affordable district outside London for single people to buy a flat, according to a new analysis by property website Zoopla.
Only Hertsmere – between Watford and St Albans – was found to be more expensive.
Zoopla said that monthly mortgage repayments typically cost about 34.37 per cent of the average gross monthly wage in Brighton and Hove.
In Hertsmere, in Hertfordshire, mortgage repayments for a one-bedroom flat typically accounted for 35.07 per cent of the average gross monthly wage.
The most affordable district for single people to get on the property ladder was Sunderland.
Zoopla compared the costs of one-bedroom flats in local authority areas with local average wages.
Kensington and Chelsea was the most expensive London borough with mortgage payments equating to 77.7 per cent of the local average gross wage.
The most affordable London borough, Bexley, proved to be better than Brighton and Hove, with mortgage payments equating to 27.76 per cent of monthly wages.
Zoopla’s analysis, published to coincide with Valentine’s Day, made a number of assumptions, including a 15 per cent deposit to put and a 25-year mortgage term.
In the cheapest district, Sunderland, a mortgage on a one-bed flat cost about 9.2 per cent of the average monthly wage.
Zoopla said: “The most affordable area for single buyers is northern England while those in southern England are forced to sacrifice a much larger portion of their monthly wage.”
Zoopla’s analysis used Office for National Statistics figures for full-time gross earnings.
