The UK is a world-class music room, according to a new report, but the UK is one of the most expensive places to own a room.
The report, which surveyed thousands of home buyers in the country, found that it was the cheapest country to own an apartment in, with an average of £1.13million a year to spend on a room for one, or £3,000 more than a standard two-bedroom.
It also found that the cheapest place to buy a new apartment in the capital was a property in Manchester, with a average of just £1,200.
The survey also found the average Londoner was spending £12,000 a year on their own room, compared with a national average of more than £19,000.
The average UK resident spent £22,000 on their room, or almost three times as much as the national average.
While the survey also revealed that Londoners were spending £8,000 per person on rent, the UK average for this category was just £5,000, meaning that the capital’s most expensive apartments were still in the city’s north, rather than the capital in the south.
In contrast, a similar survey of properties in the Midlands found that residents of the Midlands had spent an average £5.4million on their homes, or just £3.5 per person.
It comes as a result of a new ruling by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) which has revealed that house prices in the north are soaring in the past few years, with the average price of a home in the region rising by £1million in 2016/17.
The survey also showed that more than 60 per cent of people in the area are now renting.
“The north of England is home to the UK’s largest share of the country’s housing stock, and in many ways, the most affordable places to live in the whole of the UK,” said Simon Jenkins, a spokesman for the ONS.
“But as the housing market in the North of England has seen a steep decline in the last few years due to a combination of low interest rates and the housing crisis, people in this region are now finding themselves increasingly forced to move elsewhere.”
It is understood that some residents in the west of England have already left the region to move to the capital, with many of the new listings for apartments in the Greater London area coming in to London, and some even taking the route of renting in a country where rents are at their lowest in decades.
The ONS has also published data which shows that a record number of properties were sold in the second half of last year, with prices rising by a whopping £6.7billion.
This means that London’s average house price is now £7,200 a year more than it was in 2015/16, according the survey, while it is also £4,800 more than the national median household income.
The average cost of a standard house in the US has risen by an average 26.2 per cent in the same period, while the average cost in the Republic of Ireland has risen an average 10.2%.
The report also revealed a sharp increase in the number of people who are now living in flats in the Capital, with almost 10,000 households now renting a property.
In a bid to encourage home ownership, the ONSC has introduced a range of measures, including the introduction of an ‘affordable’ tax credit to help people buy their first home.
The scheme is currently available for £1 million for a home buyer and £1m for a buyer in a detached property.
“If you’re planning to buy your first home, you should be able to save as much money as possible for your deposit,” said Andrew Williams, the chief executive of the Home Buyers Association, in a statement.
“If you are looking to rent, this may help reduce the amount you have to pay towards your deposit.
For those who are buying, the tax credit can provide a quick and easy way to buy the house you want.”