England and Wales now have no regions in which the average worker can afford to buy the average-sized home, after a house price boom put all but the smallest spaces out of reach of many earners.
Even in north-east England, the most affordable region, a buyer with a 25% deposit can afford only 884 square feet of space — just shy of the 893 sq ft median home size, according to exclusive research by the property agents Savills.
In London, the average worker, even with a 25% deposit, can afford just 292 sq ft. This is 100 sq ft smaller than the minimum space standard used by planners for one-bedroom apartments, and a third of the size of the average home nationally.
