Mortgage to income ratio for UK buyers 2000-2023

Housing affordability in the UK has worsened notably since 2020, with the share of income spent on mortgage rising for first-time and repeat buyers. In 2023, homebuyers spent, on average, 20.6 percent of their income on mortgage payments, 4.4 percentage points higher than in 2020. This increase was higher for first-time buyers than for repeat buyers. House prices have soared since the COVID-19 pandemic, followed by a dramatic increase in interest rates. As fewer people can afford to buy a home, the number of mortgage approvals for house purchase has dropped.

Total mortgage payment as a percentage of income in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2000 to 2023, by type of buyer

Characteristic	First-time buyer	All buyers	Former owner occupier
2023	22.1%	20.6%	19.5%
2022	18.9%	17.9%	17.2%
2021	17.2%	16.4%	15.9%
2020	17.1%	16.2%	15.6%
2019	17.6%	16.6%	16%
2018	17.6%	16.7%	16%
2017	17.4%	16.4%	15.9%
2016	17.5%	16.4%	15.7%
2015	17.6%	16.3%	15.6%
2014	18.4%	16.9%	16.2%
2013	17.9%	16.3%	15.6%
2012	18.3%	16.8%	16.2%
2011	17.8%	16.3%	15.8%
2010	17.6%	16.2%	15.8%
2009	18.3%	16.6%	15.9%
2008	22.7%	20.3%	19.4%
2007	23.5%	21.1%	20.2%
2006	21.5%	19.7%	19%
2005	22.5%	20.4%	19.8%
2004	22%	19.6%	19.9%
2003	19.9%	17.7%	18.2%
2002	18.1%	16.8%	16.8%
2001	18.8%	17.9%	17.8%
2000	19.4%	19.1%	18.9%

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Release date

July 2024

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Region

United Kingdom

Survey time period

2000 to 2023

Supplementary notes

The source adds the following information: "From 1999, the average mortgage rate is a composite figure which has been constructed from a weighted combination of building society and bank mortgage interest figures to give an overall estimate of the mortgage rate. The mortgage repayment is for capital and interest charges. The data published in these tables are based on a sub-sample of RMS data. These results will therefore differ from results produced using full sample data."

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