Revealed: the cheapest cities to own a home in Britain

Aberdeen Harbour & The Port of Aberdeen and the surrounding area

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 24 August 2023

As property prices fall, you may be wondering where the cheapest place to buy in the UK is right now.

According to new research, Aberdeen is currently the cheapest city to own a home, followed by Dundee and Kingston Upon Hill.

Glasgow and Durham complete the top five least expensive places to be a homeowner.

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The mortgage broker L&C Mortgages analysed house price data and added in mortgage payments, utility bills and council tax for each location. The total was then compared to the median salary in each area to reveal the least expensive British cities to own a home.

Aberdeen takes the crown as the cheapest UK city to own a home. In the "Granite City", average house prices are £139,551, according to the Office for National Statistics, with the total mortgage cost repaid over 25 years at 4.5% interest coming in at £209,349. This equates to a monthly mortgage payment of £698. When combined with utilities and council tax, it creates a monthly bill of £988. This is 37% of the median salary in Aberdeen (£2,696).

In second place is Dundee, with the average home priced at £142,777, and a total mortgage cost of £214,189. This makes monthly mortgage payments £714, giving a total bill of £1,049 when utilities and council tax are added. This is 42% of the median salary (£2,524).

Kingston Upon Hull, a port city in the Yorkshire and the Humber region, is the third cheapest. The research found that the average cost of a home was £134,582, the total mortgage cost was £201,895, and monthly mortgage payments were £673. This jumps to £989 when combined with utilities and council tax, which is 42% of the median salary (£2,332).

"The research, which considers monthly mortgage payments alongside utilities and council tax, shows that the least expensive cities are predominantly located in the UK’s northern regions - with Scotland appearing three times in the top five,” says a spokesperson from L&C Mortgages.

They add that during the first six months of the year, 291,568 mortgages were approved across the country. “This has allowed both first-time buyers and seasoned homeowners to invest in property in a location they're happy to call home.”

Glasgow, Durham, Sunderland, Preston, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent and Doncaster round out the top 10 cheapest cities to own a home.

In contrast, the most expensive areas to live are Westminster, St Albans, Chichester, Winchester and Cambridge. When mortgage payments are added to utility and council tax bills, homeowners face paying more than 100% of the local median salary on these bills.

Of course, many of those residents will work in other areas with higher wages - the locations are all commutable to London, for example - and some may have paid off their mortgages already.

Cheapest cities to own a home in Britain

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Rank	City	Average cost of homes (£)	Cost minus 10% deposit (£)	Total mortgage cost over 25 years at 4.5% (£)	Monthly mortgage payment (£)	Utilities, council tax and mortgage per month (£)	Utilities, council tax and mortgage as % of monthly salary
1	Aberdeen	139,551	125,596	209,349	698	988	37
2	Dundee	142,777	128,499	214,189	714	1,049	42
3	Kingston Upon Hull	134,582	121,124	201,895	673	989	42
4	Glasgow	168,415	151,574	252,650	842	1,209	45
5	Durham	127,047	114,342	190,591	635	1,010	46
6	Sunderland	136,554	122,899	204,853	683	1,016	47
7	Preston	158,204	142,384	237,332	791	1,135	49
8	Bradford	168,497	151,647	252,773	843	1,171	49
9	Stoke on Trent	144,136	129,722	216,227	721	1,122	49
10	Doncaster	161,295	145,166	241,969	807	1,166	51

Most expensive cities to own a home in Britain

Swipe to scroll horizontally

Rank	City	Average cost of homes (£)	Cost minus 10% deposit (£)	Total mortgage cost over 25 years at 4.5% (£)	Monthly mortgage payment (£)	Utilities, council tax and mortgage per month (£)	Utilities, council tax and mortgage as % of monthly salary
1	Westminster	921,609	829,448	1,382,562	4,609	4,916	143
2	St Albans	577,642	519,878	866,556	2,889	3,214	131
3	Chichester	477,709	429,938	716,641	2,389	2,716	119
4	Winchester	518,101	466,291	777,235	2,591	2,920	109
5	Cambridge	510,014	459,013	765,103	2,550	2,955	105
6	Brighton & Hove	434,736	391,262	652,174	2,174	2,590	104
7	Bath	426,968	384,271	640,521	2,135	2,542	100
8	Oxford	478,100	30,290	717,227	2,391	2,786	97
9	Chelmsford	377,474	339,727	566,272	1,888	2,331	95
10	London	525,629	473,066	788,528	2,628	3,030	94

The calculations use average house price data as of May 2023 from Office for National Statistics, average cost of basic utilities per month data from Numbeo, median weekly earnings for full-time employees before tax in 2022 from Office for National Statistics, average council tax band D per dwelling from gov.uk, and mortgage approval rates from Credit Strategy.

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Ruth is an award-winning financial journalist with more than 15 years' experience of working on national newspapers, websites and specialist magazines.

She is passionate about helping people feel more confident about their finances. She was previously editor of Times Money Mentor, and prior to that was deputy Money editor at The Sunday Times.

A multi-award winning journalist, Ruth started her career on a pensions magazine at the FT Group, and has also worked at Money Observer and Money Advice Service.

Outside of work, she is a mum to two young children, while also serving as a magistrate and an NHS volunteer.