How affordable is it to live in Peterborough?

The answer is very, according to analysis provided by the House of Commons Library.

Using official data on house prices and earnings it has concluded that it is far easier to afford a property in the Peterborough constituency than across the region, as well as in England and Wales as a whole.

The median house price is said to be seven times the median salary, compared to 9.3 for the East of England and eight nationally.

According to the House of Commons Library, the median house price is £180,000 in Peterborough while the median salary is £25,700.

This compares to £292,000 and £31,300 regionally and £243,000 and £30,300 in England and Wales.

The earnings figures (which do not include those who are self-employed) are based on a three year average between 2018 and 2020, while the house prices are the latest available.

House prices are said to have increased in the Peterborough constituency in the past five years by 28.6 per cent, compared to 27 per cent in the East of England and 19.1 per cent in England and Wales.

That is despite prices flatlining in the city over the previous 12 months.

Intriguingly, the House of Commons Library has even produced figures comparing house prices from December 1995 to the present day.

More than 15 years ago it would have cost on average just shy of £42,000 to buy a property in the city, compared to £57,500 in the East of England and £54,950 in England and Wales.

Peterborough as a city is part of two constituencies, one of which is North West Cambridgeshire.

According to the data the median house price in the constituency (which incorporates large parts of Huntingdonshire) is £232,750.

Median salaries are said to be £29,100, meaning its house price to earnings ratio is the same as the national figure (eight).

House prices are also said to have risen by 29.4 per cent over the past five years.

In North East Cambridgeshire, which covers Fenland, the median house price is £205,000 and the median salary is £26,800, meaning its house price to earnings ratio is 7.6.

House prices in the area are said to have risen by 32.3 per cent over the past five years, including 4.7 per cent in the past 12 months which is three times the rate regionally.

The figures can be viewed in full at: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/constituency-data-house-prices/.