Two Welsh counties are in the UK’s top 20 for affordability too – use our interactive map to see what’s happening in your area
The latest house price data from the Office for National Statistics has been released(Image: Castle Road, Mumbles)
The least and most affordable places to buy a home in the UK have been revealed and two areas in Wales appear in the top 23 listed.
Across the UK as a whole house prices are now nearly seven-times typical earnings. It cost £273,000 to buy the average home in the UK in the 12 months to August 2026, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
In Wales, Blaenau Gwent takes the top spot for affordability and also appears in the UK’s list at joint number 14 alongside Middlesborough, County Durham and Cumberland. Merthyr Tydfil sits at number 21, with the number one place taken by Inverclyde in Scotland.
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It cost approximately £143,243 to buy the average home in Blaenau Gwent in the 12 months to August 2026, according to the ONS. This newly published figure has increased by 2.1% compared to a year earlier, far higher than the UK average of just 0.9% but below the Welsh average of 3.1%. The average house price in Wales as a whole is now £216,363.
Looking at the average cost of a property to the average full-time earnings in each area of Wales we have worked out the ratio and ranked the 22 counties in order of the most affordable to the least affordable – see the table below:
The ONS states that in Blaenau Gwent the average earnings are £35,967 in 2026, which means that the average house costs 4.0 times the average earnings, giving it the lowest ratio, and so awarding the county the top spot in Wales.
This ratio figure of 4.0 for Blaenau Gwent is far less than the Welsh average of 5.7 times earnings and the UK average of 6.7 times greater than earnings. Don’t let an algorithm decide what Welsh news you see – click here to add WalesOnline as your preferred Google source.
Merthyr Tydfil is the next most affordable place to buy a home in Wales. The average property in Merthyr Tydfil cost £148,656 in the 12 months to August, 1.0% less than a year ago, and the county has an average full-time earnings of £35,287 a year. That’s a house-price-to-earnings ratio of 4.2.
Only two parts of Wales are less affordable than the UK average. It cost £272,443 to buy the average home in Cardiff in the 12 months to August 2026. Average earnings in the city are £39,566 a year, meaning homes are 6.9 times more expensive than earnings.
It’s the same ratio in the Vale of Glamorgan where homes cost an average of £300,358 and earnings are £43,675 a year. Monmouthshire continues to be the most expensive place to buy a home with the average price now £328,937 and average earnings at £40,611, resulting in a ratio of 8.0, so the county sits at the bottom of the affordability table.
Find out the affordability in your area by using our interactive map below:
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