Rental sector to boom as first time buyers need £50,000 to proceed

The rental market looks set to benefit from the continuing housing market strength as new research claims that first time buyers need on average a minimum household income of £50,000 to purchase a house in the UK.

The figures, from GoCompare, look at 65 towns and cities across the UK and show the minimum first-time buyers need to earn to get a mortgage, based upon a 90 per cent mortgage and affordable monthly housing costs.

Unsurprisingly, London tops the chart with household incomes of at least £140,000 a year needed to buy a flat and an eye-watering £275,000 for a detached house. The median average salary in the capital is just £30,338.

According to the research, Blackburn is almost 10 times cheaper than London and a household income of just £14,000 could get you on the property ladder. The median average salary in the Lancashire town is £18,444, making it one of the few places in the UK that are affordable.

In 51 out of the 65 cities included in this research, the average salary is below the minimum required to buy a property.

After Blackburn, the cheapest places to buy property are Hull, Blackpool, Grimsby and Stoke-on-Trent where a salary of just £15,000 could be enough to purchase a flat.

Outside of London, Brighton, Edinburgh, Bristol and Oxford are the most costly. Minimum salaries to get on the property ladder in these cities are £60,000, £60,000, £58,000 and £54,000 respectively.