95% of homes in Barking and Dagenham affordable for first time buyers

The Barking Riverside development is set to bring thousands of new homes to the borough

95 per cent of homes in Barking and Dagenham are affordable for new homeowners, according to new data by Post Office Money.

Aspiring home owners, however, can afford just 40 per cent of the properties sold in Havering in 2018 and just 13 per cent in Redbridge.

This means the average property price to buy in Redbridge is 5.38 times higher than the Greater London average household income, compared to Barking and Dagenham which is 3.88 times higher.

The research, which reveals which locations are the most and least affordable across the UK, showed that over half of properties sold in the UK last year were affordable for first-time buyers.

The data for affordability in Greater London is based on the average household income for the region of £79,834.

Ross Hunter, from Post Office Money said: “Barking and Dagenham is very inexpensive, so targeting those areas will make it easier to save a deposit.

“Look at your big outgoings; you can move to cheaper rented accommodation or try to boost your income at work.

“If they’re set on one area then it means they’ll have to save up the deposit to buy a house in that area. If they’re looking to move in more quickly then we would recommend looking for more affordable areas.”

The new data was collected for over 80 towns and cities in the UK, with Blackpool coming out as the most affordable with an average property price of £110,000. 

The least affordable for first-time buyers was Oxford with an average of £392,500.