Several towns in County Durham, including Shildon, feature among the most affordable places to buy a home in Britain, according to a new analysis by the property website Zoopla. The study ranks 929 towns across the country by comparing house prices with household earnings, identifying those where a typical property can be bought for less than two years of household income.
Across Britain as a whole, the typical home costs about 4.3 times annual household earnings. The towns at the top of the Zoopla ranking fall well below that average, which is why they stand out. Scotland accounts for half of the affordable towns on the list, and the Daily Record has published the full set of 23 Scottish towns included in the analysis. Some of the listed towns have homes priced under £300,000, according to reporting by The Independent.
The ranking measures affordability through a price-to-earnings multiple rather than absolute prices. That means a town can appear high on the list even if its homes are not the cheapest in cash terms, provided local wages are relatively strong compared with property values. The distinction matters for buyers comparing a low asking price with what they are actually able to borrow and repay. A London borough map accompanying the analysis shows affordability relative to household income across the capital, offering a contrast with the northern and Scottish towns that dominate the rankings.
The difference between the two measures is significant for anyone reading the list. A town with modest prices but weak wages can score poorly, while a place with moderately priced homes and comparatively high earnings can rank well. Because the ratio is calculated against household income rather than individual pay, the figures describe typical households in each town rather than the position of any one buyer.
The analysis has limitations that readers should weigh. It comes from a single company rather than an independent government dataset, and it is not entirely clear whether the listings reflect current asking prices or prices actually sold. The report also does not specify how the ratio treats households with different income levels, so the two-years-of-wages figure may look different for a single earner, a couple or a family on lower or higher incomes.
For prospective buyers in the towns named, the findings suggest that homeownership remains within reach in parts of the country where the gap between prices and incomes is narrower than the national average. Whether that holds for individual buyers will depend on their own circumstances, local mortgage conditions and the state of the particular housing market they are considering. Readers comparing the list with their own finances may find the London map and the Scottish breakdown useful starting points, though the underlying figures should be checked against current listings and lending criteria before any decision is made.