Property owners can now compare their salary with their home's earnings

A new calculator has been launched to let homeowners compare how much their property has earned compared in a year and on an hourly and weekly basis.

It may make uncomfortable reading for those struggling with below inflation pay rises in their own jobs but House Buy Fast, which has created the tool, estimates that house prices soared by almost £10 an hour in many regions last year.

The calculator compiles Land Registry data linked to millions of UK homes and compares how prices have risen in that area with rates of pay which are based on Office of National Statistic figures.

According to the Price Earnings Calculator, people living in a property worth £289,099 - which is the current UK average - can expect to have seen their value increase by at least £19,842 over the past 12 months. 

That breaks down as £9.88 an hour, £79 a day and nearly £400 a week. 
 

Jonathan Rolande, the founder of House Buy Fast, said: “The house price surge over the past couple of years has been truly staggering. And this calculator lays bare just how remarkable some of the regional increases have been. 

“In very many cases homeowners are now earning far more an hour through the value of their property increasing than they are by going to work.

“To see house prices rising faster than the rate of wages in this way is bittersweet. On one hand it underlines, once again, the strong position those owning their own home now find themselves in.

“But on the flip side it shines a light on the struggle many trying to enter the market face. With house prices rising higher than the rate of wages, many young people will now really struggle to get on the ladder especially during a cost of living crisis.”

Rolande said the figures illustrate how important it is to have effective government policies designed to boost people’s chances of owning a property “rather than recycled ideas like the right to buy gimmick we saw rolled out recently by the Prime Minister."