Bar staff may need a stiff drink after they discover it will take them almost 130 years to save for a deposit on an average priced UK house - and 320 years for an average property in London.
The online estate agent Housesimple.com compiled a list of the 30 jobs where the average salary would mean - without some significant help from the bank of mum and dad – you’ll be saving for at least 100 years before you are in a financial position to buy an average property in the UK.
According to Housesimple's research, full-time bar staff on an average annual salary of £14,390 would have to save for a staggering 128.2 years to get onto the housing ladder, while hairdressers and barbers would be able to afford to buy an average property by the year 2143.
Housesimple used the most recent ONS Annual Salaries data to compile the list of jobs, and then ranked them by the length of time it would take someone in that job to have enough money for a deposit on a £226,351 property, the price of an average home in the UK according to the Land Registry.
The calculations were based on savers putting aside 10 per cent of their net salary every year for a house deposit, and the maximum mortgage loan they could secure would be four times their gross annual salary.
The research reveals that many of the jobs in the top 30 are services that we rely on or use regularly, including hairdressers, childcare, cooks and cleaners. For example, a cook on an average wage, would need to toil away in the kitchens for 113 years to have a large enough deposit to buy an average property. It would take a care worker just over 102 years, saving 10 per cent of their salary a year, to afford to buy.
Although these figures are based on buying the average priced UK house, even if you consider the average house price in the cheapest region, the figures are still eye-watering. In the North East, where the average house price is £128,680, it would still take bar staff 54 years to have enough saved for a deposit. While in London, where the average price is £478,853, bar staff would have to save for an astounding 320 years to afford to buy an average property.
Housesimple also compiled figures on emergency and critical services. It would take a nurse, on an average salary of £31,867, just under 40 years to save the deposit for an average property, firefighter 34.5 years, primary school teacher 31.5 years, paramedic 28.4 years and a police officer 20.2 years.
The following list shows the 30 jobs where the average salary would mean it will take at least 100 years to save for an average UK property:
Bar staff - 128.2 years
Hairdressers and barbers - 125.5 years
Playworkers - 124.5 years
Waiters and waitresses - 124 years
Florists - 123.7 years
Check-out operators - 119.6 years
Launderers, dry cleaners and pressers - 119.5 years
Kitchen and catering assistants - 118.9 years
Nursery nurses and assistants - 117.1 years
Beauticians - 114.8 years
Cleaners and domestics - 114.7 years
Shelf fillers - 113.9 years
Childcare - 113.3 years
Cooks - 113.0 years
Care escorts - 112.8 years
School midday and crossing patrol - 112.5 years
Fishmongers and poultry dressers - 112.4 years
Educational support assistants - 112.1 years
Pharmacy and other dispensing assistants - 112 years
Teaching assistants - 111.5 years
Sewing machinist - 109.9 years
Sales assistants - 108.7 years
Retail cashiers - 107.9 years
Vehicle valeters and cleaners - 106.3 years
Receptionists - 105.3 years
Housekeepers - 103.9 years
Care workers and home carers - 102.2 years
Dental nurses - 100.2 years
Packers, bottlers, canners and fillers - 100 years
Street cleaners - 99.7 years
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel