Housing is more affordable than a year ago, according to the UK's biggest mortgage lender.

Housing is more affordable than a year ago, according to the UK's biggest mortgage lender, but high mortgage rates mean it is still a stretch to own your own house in the current climate.

The Halifax, part of Lloyds Banking Group, said that a typical home in the UK cost 6.7 times average annual earnings of a full-time worker. This is down from 7.3 times a year ago, which was a record level.

For all buyers, London has the least affordable homes, priced at 9.3 times average earnings, with mortgage repayments taking up 49% of monthly earnings.

Mortgage costs are much higher now than the ultra-low rates of less than 2% many homeowners enjoyed on their previous deal, this will undoubtedly catch homeowners out when it comes to the end of their "fixed term" period, or ongoingly if homeowners are on a "standard variable rate" mortgage.

Nationwide Building Society has announced new rate cuts of up to 0.4% on its fixed mortgage products, while Santander has reduced interest rates on residential fixed rate mortgage products by up to 0.2%. This shows a potential peak and softening in terms of interest rates offering a positive landscape for the UK public's personal finance moving into the near future.

We started Grove Home Developments to assist SME property developers bring units to the market and help. We are proud to say that as a company we have done this already in SW London and have development sites going through planning across Home Counties & London which will assist further.

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