Housing affordability shows yawning gap between some London neighborhood, other areas in Britain: report

London, March 28 (Xinhua) -- There is a yawning gap between housing affordability in London's posh neighborhood and other places of the country, a report from the Office for National Statistics (ONS)said on Thursday.

London's fashionable Kensington and Chelsea remained the least affordable place in the country to afford a home in 2018. Average house prices were 44.5 times the workplace-based average annual earnings, the ONS said in its latest housing affordability report.

In sharp contrast, Copeland, a northern coastal town on the foothills of the famous Lake District, was the most affordable place to buy a home. Average house prices were 2.5 times the average workplace-based annual earnings, it said.

Data showed over the last 20 years house affordability has worsened most in London, driven largely by increasing house prices.Eight of the ten least affordable local authority areas in England and Wales were in London, with two being in the surrounding South East region.

On average, full-time workers could expect to pay an estimated 7.8 times their annual workplace-based earnings on purchasing a home in England and Wales, according to the report.

Nigel Henretty, head of housing analysis at ONS, said: "After five years of decreases, the estimated affordability of homes in England and Wales remained static in 2018."

Newly-built homes were significantly less affordable than existing properties, costing 9.6 and 7.6 times annual workplace-based earnings respectively in 2018, the ONS said.

The most affordable local authorities were in the North West, Wales and the East Midlands, according to the ONS.