Whether you are house-hunting or just daydreaming, try using this calculator to see where in the country you could afford to live - and would it be cheaper to rent or buy?
Whether you are house-hunting or just daydreaming, try using this calculator to see where in the country you could afford to live - and would it be cheaper to rent or buy?
Enter your requirements and how much you'd like to pay on rent or mortgage repayments each month to see places in your price range.
Enter your requirements and how much you'd like to pay on rent or mortgage repayments each month to see places in your price range.
This calculator is based on pricing and rental data provided by residential property analysts Hometrack.
More about this calculator
Hometrack's Richard Donnell says the affordability of housing varies widely by geography and whether you want to rent or buy. House prices and rents are set by market factors such as the state of the local economy, transport links and the supply of housing.
"Requirements for higher deposits have raised the barriers to entry for home ownership," Mr Donnell says.
"This has increased demand for private renting and in many parts of the country renting costs more than buying with an 80% mortgage."
"Government measures to stimulate mortgage lending have seen improvements in the availability of higher loan to value mortgages, which will start to shift the balance between renting and buying so long as mortgage rates remain low."
The calculator is based on pricing and rental data from 1 January 2013 to the end of May 2013.
The house prices used to calculate how much you would pay on your mortgage are based on sales recorded by the Land Registry and Registers of Scotland plus Red Book mortgage valuation - where a surveyor has valued a property for the purpose of mortgage lending.
In Northern Ireland, where much fewer properties are sold, the data includes asking prices and mortgage valuations. We have no rental data for Northern Ireland.
Deposit needed
Monthly mortgage payments are based on the figures calculated by the Bank of England based on rates currently being offered by banks and building societies. The rate used is the one for two year, fixed rate mortgages, so would only be relevant for the first two years of the loan.
Every month, the Bank of England brings out figures for people wanting a mortgage for 75%, 90% or 95% of the value of the property they want to buy.
Currently, it is almost impossible to get a loan of 95% of the property value, so we are assuming you need a deposit of at least 10% to get a mortgage.
The rents are based on monthly prices being asked for by landlords.
The map may suggest that you can't afford to live where you are living now - but this might be because the price of property in your area and interest rates have changed since you got your mortgage. If you were trying to get a mortgage to buy your house today, you might need a bigger deposit and larger monthly payments.
If there are fewer than 25 properties matching your criteria in an area, it will come up with "no data". Figures based on a smaller number of properties would be unreliable.
If you hover over an area to see much you have to pay and see a negative price - your deposit and monthly payments are more than the value of the property!
The calculator was produced by: Dominic Bailey, Ransome Mpini, Anthony Reuben, Helene Sears
The calculator was produced by: Dominic Bailey, Ransome Mpini, Anthony Reuben, Helene Sears
