Today’s homebuyers might find it hard to believe that back in the late 1960s a house in the United Kingdom could cost less than £4,000.

Yet, for the Silent Generation (born between 1928 and 1945) and the Baby Boomers (1946-1964), this was simply a fact of life.

To understand how housing affordability has changed since then and to identify the best and worst years to buy a home in the UK, the team at BestBrokers analysed 57 years of data on average home prices from the HM Land Registry and median annual earnings from the Office for National Statistics. The research shows that Millennials (born 1981-1996) and Gen Z (born 1997-2012) now need about twice as many years of earnings compared to previous generations to buy a home, highlighting a widening gap in affordability over time.

Over the past 57 years, housing prices in the UK have surged dramatically from £3,669 in 1968 to £281,384 in 2024, representing a staggering increase of nearly 77 times. This upward trend has been almost uninterrupted, save for a few dips during economic downturns such as the early 1990s recession and the global financial crisis of 2008.

During this period, median annual earnings for UK full-time workers have also shown significant growth, albeit at a slower pace. Starting at £793 in 1968, the annual pay climbed to £35,586 in 2024, marking a 45-fold increase. However, this wage growth has lagged behind the rapid rise in housing costs, widening the affordability gap as indicated by the home price-to-earnings ratio.