The REAL Numbers

Dwellings per 100 Citizens Compared to most European counterparts, the UK operates under significant structural undersupply - only the United States has a lower ratio among the nations shown here.
  • United States 42.8
  • United Kingdom 44.6
  • Netherlands 45.4
  • OECD Average 48.7
  • Japan 49.3
  • Germany 51.8
  • Spain 56.3
  • France 59.1
  • Italy 59.8

To match the OECD average of 48.7 dwellings per 100 citizens, the UK (at 44.6) would need approximately 2.8 million additional homes ((48.7 − 44.6) × 68.27m ÷ 100 = 2,798,873). [1][2]

House Price Growth vs. Wage Growth (1997 - 2025) Indexed to 100 at 1997. UK house prices have grown far faster than UK median earnings at every check-in point since then.

Between 1997 and 2025, UK house prices rose from £55,914 to £264,936 (+374%), while UK median full-time earnings rose from £16,666 to £39,863 (+139%) - the price-to-earnings ratio nearly doubled, from 3.4x to 6.6x. [3][4]

The Worked Example: How the Numbers Affect a Family

A concrete comparison of UK house prices against UK median full-time earnings in 1997 vs 2025, using the same ONS/Land Registry data as the chart above.

1997

UK Median Earnings (Annualised)
£16,666
UK Average Home
£55,914
Price-to-Earnings Ratio
3.4x

2025

UK Median Earnings (Annualised)
£39,863 (+139%)
UK Average Home
£264,936 (+374%)
Price-to-Earnings Ratio
6.6x

Citations & Sources

  1. Home Builders Federation, Housing Horizons: Examining UK Housing Stock in an International Context. OECD benchmark of 487 dwellings per 1,000 inhabitants (2020 data). The UK figure (446 per 1,000) is a separate combined calculation across all four nations - see Four Nations, Four Markets for the full by-nation breakdown and sources. View report: HBF Housing Horizons. HBF (Oct 2023)
  2. OECD Affordable Housing Database, Table HM1.1.A1: total housing stock in OECD and EU countries. Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Italy, France and the United States are 2022 figures; Japan is 2018, the latest year available. OECD HM1.1.A1
  3. HM Land Registry / ONS UK House Price Index. Average house price for the United Kingdom, January snapshot of each year shown (1997, 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, 2020, 2025). View index: UK House Price Index. Land Registry / ONS UK HPI
  4. ONS earnings time series of median gross weekly earnings, UK, adult full-time employees (male & female), 1997-2025; annualised as weekly figure × 52. View data: ONS Earnings Time Series. ONS ASHE / NES (2025)
  5. ONS Housing Affordability in England and Wales. Median house price to median earnings ratio by local authority, 2025. View bulletin: ONS Affordability. ONS Affordability (2025)