South Hams House Price & Rent to Income Ratios
How do South Hams house prices and rents compare with local wages? Compare the cost of a home with annual pay, and monthly rent with monthly pay, using official source data.
What stands out in South Hams?
- House prices compared with pay: South Hams ranks 219 out of 294 covered English local authorities with comparable data, ordered from the lowest price-to-pay ratio.
- Rent compared with pay: its separate rent-to-pay position is 122 out of 294, ordered from the lowest percentage.
- The type of home makes a difference: flats and maisonettes average 4.5× annual resident pay, compared with 13.1× for detached homes.
- Rental size matters: average rent ranges from 21.2% of one median resident income for one bedroom to 46.9% for four or more bedrooms.
Rankings compare these specific ratios, rather than overall living costs or whether a particular household can afford a home. Equal unrounded ratios share a rank; gaps can be hidden by display rounding.
South Hams house price to income ratio
Average house price divided by annualised median full-time resident pay.
£360,616 ÷ £41,746 = 8.6× annual earnings
The average home in South Hams costs about 8.6 times the annualised gross pay of a typical full-time resident employee. This is also described as a house price to salary, wage or earnings ratio.
Compared with South West England, the price-to-pay ratio is 1.2 ratio points higher. Lower ratios mean prices are closer to local earnings.
This comparison does not predict mortgage approval or the number of years needed to save for a home. Deposits, interest rates, debts, tax and household spending affect what a buyer can afford.
South Hams rent to income ratio
Average monthly rent divided by monthly gross resident pay, shown as a percentage.
£1,014 ÷ (£41,746 ÷ 12) × 100 = 29%
Average rent in South Hams is equivalent to 29% of one full-time resident employee’s gross monthly pay. This rent-to-salary or rent-to-wages comparison uses pay before income tax and National Insurance.
That is 7.7 percentage points below the South West England comparison.
This is a comparison of area averages, not the percentage actually paid by every renter. A household may have more than one income, while bills, council tax and other costs are additional. Gross-pay and take-home-pay percentages are different; this page does not apply a personal affordability pass or fail threshold.
What explains South Hams’s housing costs relative to pay?
UK HPI: August 2026 · ONS rents: September 2026 · Employment released 20 Oct 2026 · Earnings released 22 Oct 2026
Prices and earnings both shape the house-price comparison
In August 2026, the South Hams average house price was £360,616, 18.6% higher than the South West England average. The ONS UK House Price Index is mix-adjusted; the average is not a valuation for an individual property.
Against annualised gross resident pay of £41,746 in ASHE 2026, the house-price-to-pay ratio was 8.6×. The ratio was 15.6% higher than the regional comparison. Arithmetically, both components contribute: local prices were higher, while resident pay was also 2.6% higher than the South West England figure. The housing-cost difference was the larger component, with higher pay partly offsetting it. This ratio is not a measure of household or mortgage affordability. ASHE figures are gross resident full-time employee earnings, not household income.
ONS price and earnings periods differ: August 2026 for prices and ASHE 2026 for earnings.
Rents were below the regional average relative to pay
In September 2026, average rent in the South Hams was £1,014, 18.9% lower than the South West England average. ONS private-rent statistics cover new and existing tenancies; this average is not an advertised rent or a like-for-like property comparison.
Rent represented 29.1% of gross monthly resident pay, and the rent-to-pay ratio was 21.0% lower than the regional comparison. Both differences reduce the ratio: rents were lower, while resident pay was higher than the regional figure. Housing costs made the larger arithmetic contribution. This comparison is not a household affordability measure. The rent and earnings periods are September 2026 and ASHE 2026 respectively.
Analysis refreshes with the published source data. ONS housing statistics · UK HPI · Nomis labour statistics
House price to income by property type in South Hams
UK HPI August 2026 prices compared with ASHE 2026 resident pay.
The overall average combines different types of home. This breakdown shows how the price-to-salary comparison changes when looking at a flat, terrace, semi-detached or detached home.
| Property type | Average price | Price / annual pay |
|---|---|---|
| Flats and maisonettes | £189,302 | 4.5× |
| Terraced homes | £287,612 | 6.9× |
| Semi-detached homes | £346,829 | 8.3× |
| Detached homes | £545,564 | 13.1× |
These are averages for each property type across the area. They do not describe a specific street, condition or bedroom count, and the earnings figure is not the income of buyers of that type of home.
Rent to income by number of bedrooms in South Hams
ONS average monthly rents for September 2026.
A single overall rent can hide the difference between smaller and larger homes. Compare each bedroom category with one median resident income, then with an illustrative household earning twice that amount.
| Bedrooms | Monthly rent | One median income | Two median incomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| One bedroom | £738 | 21.2% | 10.6% |
| Two bedrooms | £922 | 26.5% | 13.3% |
| Three bedrooms | £1,141 | 32.8% | 16.4% |
| Four or more bedrooms | £1,633 | 46.9% | 23.5% |
The two-income column assumes two people each earning £41,746 gross annually. This is an example, not a measured median household income. A family may have one earner, different pay levels or other costs. ONS average rents cover the rental stock and are not a quote for currently advertised homes.
What would the average South Hams rent mean for different incomes?
Using the area’s £1,014 average monthly rent, these examples show how the share changes at different gross annual income levels. The income amounts are illustrative, rather than local salary percentiles.
| Annual income | Monthly equivalent | Rent share |
|---|---|---|
| £25,000 | £2,083 | 48.7% |
| £35,000 | £2,917 | 34.8% |
| £50,000 | £4,167 | 24.3% |
These percentages use pay before deductions. They do not calculate take-home pay, household bills, benefit entitlement or a landlord’s referencing decision.
Compare South Hams with other areas
All rows use the same source periods and calculation. Regional and UK figures use their own official price, rent and pay series; they are not averages of the local ratios.
| Area | House price | Monthly rent | Annualised pay | Price / pay | Rent / pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Hams | £360,616 | £1,014 | £41,746 | 8.6× | 29% |
| South West England | £304,139 | £1,251 | £40,695 | 7.5× | 37% |
| United Kingdom | £273,037 | £1,406 | £42,182 | 6.5× | 40% |
Similar price-to-pay ratios in South West England
These areas are selected by their price-to-pay ratio within the same region, rather than by distance or neighbourhood similarity.
| Area | House price | Monthly rent | Annualised pay | Price / pay | Rent / pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stroud | £353,416 | £1,047 | £41,179 | 8.6× | 31% |
| East Devon | £345,256 | £977 | £40,799 | 8.5× | 29% |
| Bristol | £353,596 | £1,893 | £42,297 | 8.4× | 54% |
| Dorset | £328,589 | £1,059 | £40,659 | 8.1× | 31% |
| Tewkesbury | £323,497 | £1,106 | £40,919 | 7.9× | 32% |
Questions about prices, rents and pay in South Hams
What is the house price to salary ratio in South Hams?
The average house price is £360,616, equivalent to 8.6 times annualised median resident pay of £41,746. “Income”, “salary”, “wages” and “earnings” here all refer to this same gross full-time employee pay measure.
What percentage of salary goes on the average rent in South Hams?
Average rent of £1,014 is 29.1% of the monthly equivalent of one median resident income. This compares two area statistics; it does not measure what every renter actually spends.
Does a lower house price to income ratio make buying cheaper than renting?
It shows a lower purchase price relative to earnings. A buy-versus-rent decision also needs deposit, mortgage interest, maintenance, fees and the time spent in the home. The purchase multiple and rental percentage measure different things and cannot decide that question by themselves.
Why might another website show a different affordability figure?
Check the boundary, source dates, average versus median prices, and whether the denominator is individual or household income. This page uses the local-authority boundary, UK HPI average prices and gross resident employee pay. The source definitions below explain those choices.
Source dates, definitions and changes over time
House prices are UK HPI mix-adjusted average prices for August 2026. Rents are ONS average private rents for September 2026. Pay is the median gross weekly earnings of full-time employees living in the area, annualised by the source pipeline, from ASHE 2026.
The boundary is South Hams local authority (E07000044), not a postcode district or a wider city region. Individuals’ earnings are not the same as total household income.
Our house-price comparison differs from the official ONS median-price-to-earnings series. The ONS private-rental affordability statistic uses private-renting household income; this page uses individual resident pay. Those measures should not be compared as though their denominators were identical.
Prices and rents refresh monthly; earnings typically update annually. A true historical ratio needs earnings for each historical period. We do not divide historical prices by today’s pay and present that as historical affordability.
- Source 1: gov.uk — UK House Price Index
- Source 2: ons.gov.uk — private rents
- Source 3: nomisweb.co.uk — resident earnings
- Source 4: ons.gov.uk — ONS data and methodology
- Source 5: ons.gov.uk — ONS data and methodology
- Source 6: nomisweb.co.uk — resident earnings
- Source 7: ons.gov.uk — ONS data and methodology
ONS housing affordability definition · ONS rental affordability methodology