House prices in Richmond are 'unaffordable' with the median cost of a home running to an astonishing 20.7 times the annual salary earned by the borough's workers.

This makes Richmond the third worst area in the country in terms of property affordability – behind the central London boroughs of Kensington & Chelsea, and Westminster.

A new report from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) looks at average prices and median pay to understand which areas are most or least affordable for workers.

The data puts the median house price for Richmond at £768,000, which is 20.7 times the median salary for borough's workers of £37,041.

The data puts the median house price for Richmond at £768,000, which is 20.7 times the median salary for borough's workers of £37,041. Credit: ONS.

To put this in context the average house price for London as a whole is a lower 12.6 times salaries, while the figure for England is 8.3 times salaries.

The ONS data makes clear that the situation for people in Richmond trying to get on the property ladder has deteriorated dramatically since 1997. At that point, the mediad house price was 7 times the median salary before rising to 12 by 2007, 19.9 by 2017 and now 20.7.

Details can be found here - https://www.ons.gov.uk/visualisations/dvc2509/fig3/index.html

The high cost of buying a home is pricing many young people and families out the borough, so leaving family and friends behind.

This may help explain a fall in the birth rate in recent years, which has seen some borough primary schools cutting back on the number of children being accepted each year.

The ONS said: "Over the last 25 years, housing affordability has worsened in every local authority, especially in London or surrounding areas.

"In 1997, 89% of local authorities had an affordability ratio of less than five times workers' earnings, whereas only 7% had this level of affordability in 2022.

"The most affordable area in London was less affordable than the least affordable area in the North East."

The average house price in County Durham is just £120,000, which is some 4.3 times the median worker's salary of £27,664

The findings will put pressure on Richmond Borough Council to step up house building in the borough.

A number of major schemes are currently in the pipeline, including Stag Brewery site, Mortlake, Homebase, in North Sheen, Twickenham Riverside, Kew Retail Park, Ham Close and Barnes Hospital.

In separate research, new figures from the Office for National Statistics and Land Registry put the average sale price in January for properties in Richmond borough at £756,557, which compares to £533,986 for London and £310,159 for England.

Looking at different property types: -

* The average sale price for detached homes in January was £1,677,321 – an annual increase of 3.2%.

The average sale price for detached homes in January was £1,677,321 – an annual increase of 3.2%. Credit: ONS.

* The average sale price for terraced homes in January was £871,672 – an annual increase of 4.1%.

The average sale price for terraced homes in January was £871,672 – an annual increase of 4.1%. Credit: ONS.

* The average sale price for flats and maisonettes in January was £491,800 – an annual increase of 1.7%.

The average sale price for flats and maisonettes in January was £491,800 – an annual increase of 1.7%. Credit: ONS.