New Boon Brokers research reveals where NHS workers can still afford homes, and where rising property prices are pushing ownership out of reach.
The research compared different NHS salary bands against the latest ONS property data across major UK cities. The data revealed that homeownership for single NHS workers is becoming increasingly out of reach in many parts of the UK.
Many NHS salary bands no longer meet the minimum mortgage affordability requirements needed to purchase the average first-time buyer property in several UK cities, even when applying a 95% LTV mortgage and a 5.5x income multiplier model.
Which UK cities are most affordable for NHS workers?
Liverpool, Newcastle and Nottingham are among the UK’s most affordable cities for NHS homebuyers, with lower property prices allowing lower salary bands to qualify for a suitable mortgage using a 5.5x salary multiplier. Liverpool and Newcastle were found to offer the strongest affordability outcomes, with Band 2 NHS workers still able to access the earliest entry point onto the property ladder through flats and maisonettes. However, when comparing this to the average first-time buyer property price, homeownership only became accessible from Band 5 onwards.
By contrast, the data revealed that cities such as Manchester, Bristol and Edinburgh had substantially higher affordability thresholds, with mortgage borrowing shortfalls and deposit saving timelines increasing sharply compared to lower cost regional cities.
The findings outline that homeownership for single NHS workers is becoming increasingly dependent on location rather than salary progression alone.
In several UK cities the average first-time buyer home remains inaccessible below the NHS Band 6 or Band 7 salary thresholds. Despite potentially being able to save for a deposit over time, many NHS workers still remain unable to buy due to their salary falling below minimum mortgage affordability requirements.
While in cities such as Birmingham and Norwich, lower-band NHS workers could still access the earliest entry-level properties, the average first-time buyer property price only became accessible for NHS workers earning a Band 6 salary onwards. Manchester, Bristol and Edinburgh showed some of the highest affordability thresholds across the research, with average first-time buyer homes only becoming accessible from NHS Band 7 or Band 8a salaries onwards. In Bristol, affordability remained inaccessible below NHS Band 8a, while both Manchester and Edinburgh required a minimum NHS Band 7 salary before long-term homeownership became achievable.
NHS salaries failing to meet minimum mortgage requirements
The research also examined the differing timeframes that NHS workers face in order to be able to save a 5% deposit, based on the estimated annual savings (equivalent to 10% of their net income).
However, one of the most significant findings found that the actual time to save for a deposit - while still presenting a delay to homeownership - appears to be futile in the overall context of mortgage affordability.
In many UK cities, the majority of NHS salary bands failed to meet the minimum borrowing requirements needed to purchase an average first-time buyer property, even when applying a 5.5x mortgage salary multiplier.
As a result - regardless of the differing timescales that it would take different salary bands to save the minimum of a 5% deposit - many NHS workers would still remain unable to qualify for a mortgage based on the average first time buyer property in their area.
London and Bristol produced some of the longest affordability timelines, with lower-band NHS workers in London facing affordability gaps exceeding 100 years before average first-time buyer homes became affordable.
In Bristol, Band 5 NHS workers still face a 24-year wait to save while Cardiff and Southampton also produced significant affordability delays before average first-time buyer homes became accessible.
The research highlights the growing disconnect between NHS salaries and modern property prices across many UK cities, with homeownership increasingly shaped by geography, salary progression and prolonged saving timelines.
