£50k deficit in property purchase power between top and bottom ethnic groups

Official data from the Office of National Statistics this week outlines for the first time a disparity in the average earnings of different ethnicities. With earnings having a direct impact on mortgage eligibility, leading estate agent comparison site, GetAgent.co.uk, has analysed what this pay gap means on a housing affordability level.

The data on pay differences highlighted the gap in hourly pay for ten ethnic groups, surveyed via the ONS Annual Population Survey.

The difference in pay is significant, especially between the highest and lowest earning by way of hourly rates, with the lowest hourly pay earned by the Bangladeshi community at an average of £9.60. This is some 39% lower than Chinese workers, the highest-paid.

The Chinese community have also seen their average hourly rate rise by 36% since 2012 whilst those that are Black/African/Caribbean/Black British have seen their wage rise by only 9.53% over the same period, almost half the average of all ten groups analysed.

This difference in earning also has implications when it comes to buying a home. Housing affordability a hot topic, and with prices continuing to climb while wages have generally failed to keep pace, the latest data highlights how the high cost of buying a home isn’t just a generational or gender issue, but also one impacted by ethnicity.

For instance, house purchaser is determined by income where mortgages are concerned and the general criteria in assessing the amount that a buyer can borrow is based upon, typically, a 4.5x multiple of salary (Source: Mojo Mortgages).

Therefore, there is not only a drastic gap in the earnings between one ethnic group and another but also in ‘home purchasing power’.

As a matter of fact, notwithstanding any deposit paid, the difference between the home buying power of, for instance, a Chinese buyer versus a Bangladeshi buyer is a whopping £50,369.

Founder and CEO of GetAgent, Colby Short, commented:

“The struggle faced by many millennials when getting onto the property ladder and the issue of the gender pay gap has been well documented but as this latest data shows, this gap in pay is also a problem across different ethnic groups.

In fact, the gap between the top and bottom earning ethnic groups is far bigger than any male versus female issue.

Of course, this gap has a direct impact on the ability for many to buy a home and in this day and age, this simply shouldn’t be the case. More needs to be done to level the playing field whether it be based on age, gender or ethnic background in order to ensure that everyone has the chance to become a homeowner if they wish to do so.”

Ethnic Group
Annualised wage*
Mortgage availability**
Chinese
£28,665
£128,993
Indian
£24,515
£110,318
White British
£21,895
£98,527
Any other Asian
£21,021
£94,595
White Other
£20,621
£92,795
Mixed/ Multiple ethnic groups
£22,441
£92,795
Black/African/Caribbean/Black British
£19,874
£89,435
Other ethnic group
£19,874
£89,435
Pakistani
£18,200
£81,900
Bangladeshi
£17,472
£78,624
*Method: Hourly rate x 7 hours per day x 5 days x 52 weeks

 

**4.5x annual wage

ONS earnings data

 

Properganda PR

National and local media coverage for property businesses. Journo quotes delivered in minutes.

You May Also Enjoy

Breaking News

UK monthly property transactions for May 2025

Headline statistics from the latest transactions data include: the provisional seasonally adjusted estimate of the number of UK residential transactions in May 2025 is 81,470, 12% lower than May 2024 and 25% higher than April 2025 the provisional non-seasonally adjusted estimate of the number of UK residential transactions in May 2025 is 80,530, 13% lower than May 2024 and…
Read More
Breaking News

Construction Skills Mission Board (CSMB) shows the Government has a plan

The Construction Skills Mission Board (CSMB) held its first board meeting today (26 June 2025), where it set out a roadmap for recruiting 100,000 more construction workers a year by the end of Parliament. Richard Beresford, Chief Executive of the National Federation of Builders (NFB), said: “The Construction Skills Mission Board (CSMB) is a recognition…
Read More
Paint Stripper Tools
Estate Agent Talk

5 Strategies to Optimise Your Warehouse for Real Estate

The term fixer-upper can mean many things, from ‘slap some paint on the walls and it looks brand new’ to ‘will this building collapse if we open the front door?’ Indeed, in the dicey world of commercial property acquisition, each warehouse you buy will probably fall into both camps. Thinking about the viability of warehouses…
Read More
Breaking News

HMOs sell for up to 50% above market average

New research from Excellion Capital, the boutique debt advisory and investment firm, reveals that HMOs sell for as much as 50% above the average house price, further increasing their investment potential after it was revealed that HMOs also create rental yields of up to 12.5%. After previous research from Excellion Capital recently showed that the…
Read More
Breaking News

UK buyers struggle while 50,000 homes sit empty

As the UK housing crisis deepens, new analysis by Open Property Group exposes a worrying surge in so-called “zombie homes”- properties that sit unoccupied and deteriorating while millions struggle to access affordable housing. Key insights: 50,000+ long-term vacant homes in England alone 23,000+ of these have been empty for more than two years Estimated £13.6…
Read More
Breaking News

Breaking Property News 26/06/25

Daily bite-sized proptech and property news in partnership with Proptech-X.   The UK is Europe’s second most distressed market despite headline GDP growth Retail and Consumers Goods has emerged as the most distressed sector in Europe, with distress levels now the highest since the global financial crisis, according to the latest Weil European Distress Index (WEDI). The…
Read More