West Midlands · report
Affordability in West Midlands
At the average sale price, a home costs £250,731. With 10% down and a 30-year mortgage, the payment is £1,157 a month. The UK sets no cap on the payment; no more than 15% of new mortgages may lend over 4.5 times income.
- Payment, two incomes
- 19%
- Payment, one income
- 37%
Try your own numbers
Starting from the average sale price of £250,731 in West Midlands, the median pay of a full-time employee, £37,048 a year before tax (2025, West Midlands), and a mortgage rate of 4.6% (August 2026).
The payment takes 19% of pay before tax. The UK sets no limit on it.
- Home price
- £250,731
- Monthly payment
- £1,157
- Share of pay before tax
- 19%
The mortgage payment as a share of income, year by year
The average home with 10% down over 30 years, at each year's average price and rate, against one and against two of that year's median full-time pay.
- Two median incomes
- One median income
Show the numbers
| Period | Two median incomes | One median income |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 17.8% | 35.5% |
| 2024 | 19.2% | 38.4% |
| 2023 | 19.8% | 39.7% |
| 2022 | 15.6% | 31.2% |
| 2021 | 13.9% | 27.8% |
| 2020 | 12.8% | 25.7% |
| 2019 | 13.4% | 26.8% |
| 2018 | 13.6% | 27.2% |
| 2017 | 13.2% | 26.4% |
| 2016 | 13.3% | 26.6% |
Income is the median gross annual pay of a full-time employee living in the area (ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings), before tax: one person's pay, not a household's income. Northern Ireland's councils take Northern Ireland's figure. The UK sets no limit on the payment as a share of income: no more than 15% of new mortgages may lend over 4.5 times income, and lenders test each borrower against higher rates. The Bank of England's rate on new mortgages starts in 2016, so earlier years show no payment.
Other reports for West Midlands
Sale prices have an 80% chance of landing between £237,774 and £268,453 by August 2027.
- Expected, August 2027
- £253,114
- Chance of a rise
- 58%
Renting the average home costs less each month than owning it. Owning counts interest, running costs and the return the deposit could earn, at the average sale price; rent is the average of all private tenancies. Repaying the loan is saving, so it is left out.
- Rent per month
- £983
- Owning per month
- £1,181
16.8% fewer homes were started in the last 12 months than in an average year of the past decade.
- Started, 12 months
- 12,150
- Per 1,000 residents
- 2.0
Figures for United Kingdom: West Midlands has no reliable figures of its own.
Buyers living abroad bought 1.8% of the homes sold here in the four quarters to Q1 2025.
- Bought by buyers abroad, 12 months
- 1.8%
Sale prices have fallen by 3% or more 9 times since 1968. The deepest began in August 2007.
- Deepest fall
- −17.4%
- Recovery from the low
- 76 months
In 2025 the population grew by 23,968 while 11,900 homes were finished: 2.0 new residents for every new home.
- New residents per new home, 2025
- 2.0
- Population change, 2025
- +23,968
4.6% of the 2,551,095 homes counted in the 2021 census had nobody usually living in them.
- Empty, 2021 census
- 4.6%
- Empty homes
- 117,040
In 2025, 11% of the homes added came from existing buildings rather than new ones.
- Homes from existing buildings, 2025
- 11%