Sunderland named fourth most affordable location in England for first time buyers

New figures have revealed that Sunderland is now the fourth most affordable location in England for first-time buyers, according to online mortgage broker Mojo Mortgages.

Following the launch of the government’s new First Homes scheme, the new figures are based on various factors affecting home affordability in 2021 including house prices, average annual salary and monthly take home pay.

It comes after Halifax revealed that Sunderland ranked the eleventh most affordable city to buy a home across the UK.

Halifax managing director Russell Galley said: “Affordability is significantly better in the north and there are now just two cities – Plymouth and Portsmouth – with better than average affordability in the south.”

Nationally, buying a home in a UK city will typically set a buyer back by more than eight times average earnings, after a 10.3% surge in prices over the past year.

According to Mojo Mortgages, based on the average monthly mortgage payment as a percentage of income, Sunderland was the fourth most affordable location in England for first-time buyers with the average monthly mortgage repayment taking up 17.56% of a couple’s take home pay.

This is based on an average property price in the city of £159,775 and an average annual salary of £25,073.

Other North East locations including Middlesbrough and Durham made the top ten most affordable list for first time buyers but ranked lower than Wearside.

Oxford proved to be the least affordable for first-time buyers with the average mortgage repayments making up 49.37% of the average take home salary.

The new figures have been released following the launch of the government’s First Homes scheme which sees first home properties priced at a discount of at least 30% of the original market value to allow more affordable deposits and mortgages with prices being capped at a maximum of £250,000.

Cassie Stephenson, director of mortgages at Mojo Mortgages said: “We’re excited to see how this new scheme develops over the coming months as new properties and developments continue to crop up across England.”

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