Brighton property prices remain out of reach for first-time buyers, says report

The price of a home and the cost of renting make Brighton and Hove one of the least affordable places in Britain.

Research by a property search engine business suggests that Brighton and Hove has the fourth highest proportion of unaffordable homes for first-time buyers.

And search engine company Adzuna said that it was fifth on a list of the bottom towns and cities for renting.

Adzuna said that an average couple spending 30 per cent of their income on rent would be able to choose from only 72 per cent of homes in the rental market.

First-time buyers, it said, would be restricted to just 22 per cent of houses or flats on a joint mortgage multiple of 2.75 times income and a 25 per cent deposit.

Average property prices are 5.8 times an average couple’s income, a multiple exceeded only by London and Oxford.

Chichester topped the list of least affordable towns and cities for first-time buyers, according to Adzuna. It was followed by Oxford and Guildford.

London was the most expensive place to rent, with Guildford, Oxford and Winchester also more expensive than Brighton.

Adzuna said that it calculated the affordability of areas by looking at average salaries for Britain’s top 50 towns and cities using a search index of more than 500,000 job ads.

This data was compared to property asking prices and typical mortgage multiples across the country to produce an affordability index for those looking for a home to buy or rent.

Adzuna said that its latest research was “good news for first-time buyers in Brighton” as East Sussex had become 9 per cent more affordable for locals in the past 12 months.

Andrew Hunter, co-founder of Adzuna, said “With rates of pay falling and property prices rising, it’s clear that homes in Britain are becoming less affordable and that we’re in a renters’ not a buyers’ market.”