Zoopla<\/a>, which carried out the UK-wide research, compared average prices for three-bedroom homes with estimated earnings for couples working full-time.<\/p>\nTowns in northern England, Scotland and Wales dominated the top of the affordability rankings, which were based on 300 towns that are popular with people looking to buy family-sized homes.<\/p>\n
In Wales, Ferndale in the Rhondda Valley was named as the most affordable town for families, with average 3 bed home values of \u00a3113,000 and a price-to-earnings ratio of 1.85x. <\/p>\n
Shildon in the North East was named the most affordable town in UK for families looking to buy a home, topped the list with average 3 bed home values of \u00a382,500 and price-to-earnings ratio of 1.36.<\/p>\n
In Scotland, Cumnock in East Ayrshire was placed top, with three-bedroom homes costing around 1.68 times dual wages.<\/p>\n
Richard Donnell, executive director at Zoopla, said: \u201cThe housing market is entering one of its busiest periods, with the most homes for sale in many years and at a time when buyers are becoming increasingly focused on value for money.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat stands out is the scale of the affordability gap across the UK. In parts of the North East, families can buy a home for much less than the cost of buying in the most affordable towns in southern England.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile there are affordable options in every region, buyers often face a trade-off between lower house prices and their proximity to major employment centres.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany of the most affordable towns in southern England are coastal, meaning better affordability may come at the cost of more expensive travel which may not work for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mortgage rates have jumped in recent weeks as the conflict in the Middle East has affected financial markets and prompted expectations that inflation in the months ahead could be higher than previously expected.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/01KH8AGW6PZNZG58EGHPVD34TM-scaled-e1772204960972.jpg\")
Sold and for sale signs. Image: Andrew Matthews\/PA Wire<\/p>\n
Here are the 10 most affordable towns in Zoopla\u2019s analysis, ranked in order of the house-price to earnings ratio, with the average value of a three-bedroom home followed by the average house price-to-earnings ratio for families:<\/p>\n
1. Shildon, North East, \u00a382,500, 1.36<\/p>\n
2. Peterlee, North East, \u00a398,750, 1.62<\/p>\n
3. Ferryhill, North East, \u00a399,700, 1.64<\/p>\n
4. Cumnock, Scotland, \u00a3113,600, 1.68<\/p>\n
5. Irvine, Scotland, \u00a3120,900, 1.70<\/p>\n
6. Ferndale, Wales, \u00a3113,000, 1.85<\/p>\n
7. Stanley, North East, \u00a3114,450, 1.88<\/p>\n
8. Crook, North East, \u00a3118,100, 1.94<\/p>\n
9. Egremont, North West, \u00a3139,500, 2.02<\/p>\n
10. Ashington, North East, \u00a3130,800, 2.10<\/p>\n
Here are the most affordable towns in each nation or region according to Zoopla\u2019s analysis, with the average value of a three-bedroom home followed by the average house price-to-earnings ratio for families:<\/p>\n
\u2013 North East, Shildon, \u00a382,500, 1.36<\/p>\n
\u2013 Scotland, Cumnock, \u00a3113,600, 1.68<\/p>\n
\u2013 Wales, Ferndale, \u00a3113,000, 1.85<\/p>\n
\u2013 North West, Egremont, \u00a3139,500, 2.02<\/p>\n
\u2013 Yorkshire and the Humber, Immingham, \u00a3157,700, 2.67<\/p>\n
\u2013 East Midlands, Gainsborough, \u00a3175,300, 2.79<\/p>\n
\u2013 West Midlands, Telford, \u00a3215,300, 3.35<\/p>\n
\u2013 South West, Cinderford, \u00a3272,250, 3.64<\/p>\n
\u2013 Eastern England, Lowestoft, \u00a3234,800, 3.79<\/p>\n
\u2013 South East, Dover, \u00a3280,300, 4.07<\/p>\n
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\n the people of Wales.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ferndale. Picture by Gareth James (CC BY-SA 2.0). New research has identified the most affordable place to live…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":492575,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-492574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492574","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=492574"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492574\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/492575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=492574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=492574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=492574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/ferndale.jpg\")
Ferndale. Picture by Gareth James (CC BY-SA 2.0).<\/p>\n