Do you, like many others, feel the urge to buy your own home, but are struggling to find a new home on a tight budget? It may be worth reconsidering your location.
For most of us, it is now possible to work from home, and having access to nature and green spaces might have become a priority over the commuting time. In consequence, search areas are expanding, which is great news, but looking at properties further away from cities does not necessarily mean that these properties are cheaper, and you might find yourself paying more than you should just because of the postcode. In this blog, we will give you a list of the most affordable areas in the Central Belt of Scotland.
First steps
Prior to going on the house hunt, make sure you’ve built up your savings, which will allow you to gain a better mortgage rate because you will be borrowing a lower percentage of the overall value of the property. Try to save up for a minimum 10% deposit or make sure you check government schemes available, such as the Help to Buy scheme or the 5% deposit mortgage scheme.
All set then. Let’s take a tour of Scotland’s most affordable areas.
Scottish Central Belt West: The most affordable area
Whereas the UK average house price increased by 10.6% during the pandemic, Zoopla has recently revealed that the top five most affordable towns in the UK were all clustered around the north-west of England and Scotland, with towns in historic Ayrshire dominating the rankings. Here are the five most affordable places in Scotland to buy a home, according to Zoopla. Let’s remind ourselves that the affordability of a location is linked to two key factors: gross annual household earnings (based on two-earner household) and reasonably priced properties.
1. Kilbirnie, North Ayrshire (Average house price – £76, 303 / Gross annual household earnings – £62, 338)
2. Cumnock, East Ayrshire (£77,414/ £61,859)
3. Stevenston, North Ayrshire (£106,771/ £62,338)
4. Irvine, North Ayrshire (£87,478/ £ 62,338)
5. Girvan, South Ayrshire (£88,587/ £63,102)
Another study conducted by real estate company Keller Williams UK found that the small town of Dalry, south-west of Glasgow, is the cheapest postcode with an average property price of £55,583 along with the Upper Ingleston postcode of PA15 where the average house price of just £56,652.
Finally, Glasgow house prices have risen by 2.1% in the past year with the average house price sitting around £193,621 in 2021. Other towns however have even seen a decrease in house prices, including Motherwell, Paisley and Kilmarnock.
Ready to buy or need to speak to an advisor first?
Get in touch with GPD Mortgage Solutions today. We will be able to advise you on how to best use your savings to create a deposit to help grab your dream home!