United Kingdom: House price to income ratio

The house price to income ratio is the ratio of the cost of a typical upscale housing unit of 100 square metres, compared to the countrys GDP per capita. Normally this ratio will be much higher in low income countries than in high income countries.

The formula is: (Price per square metre / GDP per capita)*100. The house price to income ratios published by the Global Property Guide are based on the Global Property Guides own proprietary in-house research, but we use the IMFs GDP per capita figures.

The United Kingdom (UK) has among the best housing statistics in the world. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is the source of official house price time-series, with annual, quarterly and monthly data available stretching back for aeons. Nationwide, Hometrack, the Halifax, and many other commercial organizations also publish quality UK house price time-series, annual, quarterly, and monthly.

The rents situation is much less good, the only figures being from the Association of Registered Letting Agents (ARLA).