Fuel and travel costs are pushing prices up again
Thursday 5 November 2026
Inflation has risen to 3.1%, meaning everyday spending is getting more expensive just as household budgets are already under pressure.
House price to earnings ratio
A house price divided by a year's earnings, showing how many times annual pay the price represents.
Key term
What it means
Divide a house price by annual pay. For an area, UK figures often divide the middle sale price by the middle gross yearly earnings of a full-time worker; “gross” means before tax. The result is a comparison, not a claim that someone could buy the home by saving all their pay for that many years. It leaves out the deposit, mortgage rates, monthly payments and any second earner. Check which homes and workers a published figure covers.
Example
If a home's price is £240,000 and the annual earnings used are £40,000, the house price to earnings ratio is 6. The price is six times that year's pay, before tax.
Why it matters
It helps track the gap between prices and pay across places or years, but it cannot tell a particular buyer whether a mortgage is affordable.
Related terms
-
Deposit to income ratio
A home-buying deposit compared with the buyer's or buyers' yearly income.
Read more -
Housing affordability
Whether people can manage the cost of buying or renting a home.
Read more -
Housing completions
Homes recorded as finished and ready for use during a given period.
Read more -
Median earnings
The middle amount of pay when people's earnings are put in order.
Read more -
Mortgage affordability
Whether a household can manage the payments on a home loan alongside its other costs.
Read more -
Mortgage income multiple
The mortgage amount divided by the borrower's or borrowers' annual income.
Read more
Keep in the loop
News
Highlights from about the UK economy, the UK government and the UK public sector.
Mortgage relief will have to wait a little longer
Wednesday 4 November 2026
Interest rates are staying at 3.75%, so households with mortgages and other borrowing may have to wait longer for costs to come down.
Energy bills are going up as winter approaches
Wednesday 4 November 2026
A higher energy price cap means many households will be paying more to heat and power their homes during the colder months.
Guides and insights
Analysis
Clear, accessible analysis of the economic issues shaping everyday life
Living standards
What does a day’s work buy?
Comparing the cost of everyday life across generations, from bread and beer to buying a home.
Food & prices
The journey behind your grocery bill
How farming, energy, transport and supermarket competition shape the price on the shelf.
Prices & inflation
Inflation is falling. What happens next?
What slower price rises mean for wages, purchasing power and economic recovery.
Shared prosperity
What would shared prosperity look like?
Beyond GDP: how we could measure economic success through security, opportunity and living standards.
Let's work together
Get in touch
We're looking to work with individuals and organisations who can contribute funding, expertise, data, technology, or strategic connections to help build better economic tools and research.