BBC’s & Second People’s Vote campaigner Lineker’s wage could snap up ten houses in Leicester:

sack lineker from bbc

With Gary Lineker facing backlash over this BBC salary, leading estate agent comparison site, GetAgent.co.uk, has looked at the UK’s highest paid celebs and what their last pay packet equates to in their local housing markets.

According to Forbes, there are 12 UK celebrities that make the list of the world’s highest-paid celebrities and they make Lineker’s yearly earnings of £1.75m look like a handful of spare change. That said, Lineker could still buy 10 houses in his hometown of Leicester if he wanted

They are Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, Calvin Harris, Gordon Ramsay, Depeche Mode, Paul McCartney, Rory McIlroy, J.K Rowling, Lewis Hamilton, the Rolling Stones, Elton John and Simon Cowell – all earning between £34m-£91.6m

But how does this translate into bricks and mortar in each of their hometowns?

GetAgent.co.uk looked at the average house price for each hometown and how many homes each celeb could buy with their impressive pay packets.

No.1 – Coldplay, 708 houses

Of course the financial spoils would be distributed amongst each band member but should they all decide to invest in the property market, Guy Berryman’s hometown of Kirkcaldy would allow the bands £91.6m in earnings buy an insane 708 houses in the town.

This drops to 440 houses in Will Champion’s hometown of Southampton, 355 in Chris Martin’s Exeter and 249 in Jonny Buckland’s home borough of Islington.

No.2 – Ed Sheeran, 601 houses.

After his meteoric rise to fame, Ed Sheeran bagged over £87.2m last year, enough for 601 houses in his home town of Halifax.

No.3 – Calvin Harris, 389 houses

Having taken home £48m Calvin Harris could afford 389 houses in his home town of Dumfries.

No.4 – Gordon Ramsay, 373 houses

Gordon could buy an impressive 150 homes in his current home town of Stratford upon Avon, however, should he move back to his birth town of Glasgow he could snap up 373 houses with his £49.1m in earnings.

No.5 – Depeche Mode, 297 houses

Between them with their earnings of £42m, Depeche Mode could afford 297 properties in Andy Fletcher’s home town of Nottingham, 140 in Martin Gore’s hometown of Dagenham or 90 in Dave Gahan’s hometown of Epping.

No.6 – Paul McCartney

Sir Paul made £37.6m last year, enough to buy 282 houses in Liverpool.

The remaining six may rank in the bottom half of the table but have still made more than enough to buy a small town or village.

Rory McIlroy could afford 199 homes in Holywood,  J.K Rowling could buy 153 homes in Yate, while Lewis Hamilton could afford 138 properties in his hometown of Stevenage.

Depending on which hometown the Rolling Stones decided to buy would see there property potential sit somewhere between 75 and 104 homes in either Dartford, Kingsbury or Hillingdon.

Finally, Elton could pick up 81 properties in Pinner, with Simon Cowell able to afford 70 homes in his home borough of Lambeth.

Founder and CEO of GetAgent.co.uk, Colby Short, commented:  

“As a nation, we’re obsessed with properties and their prices and so ranking celebs and their earnings on the number of houses they could buy seems like a much better representation of their wealth.

To be fair to them, this is total earnings and so on a net income basis, they can probably only scrape a few hundred houses or so, which will make those struggling to get a foot on the ladder for just the one house feel a lot better about life.”

 

Housing Affordability Rank
Forbes Ranking
Celeb
Earnings
Hometown
Average House Price
Housing Affordability Number
#1
#7
Coldplay
£91,634,235
Chris Martin
Exeter
£257,449
355.9
Will Champion
Southampton
£208,160
440.2
Guy Berryman
Kirkcaldy
£129,352
708.4
Jonny Buckland
Islington
£613,718
149.3
#2
#9
Ed Sheeran
£87,270,700
Halifax
£144,984
601.9
#3
#50
Calvin Harris
£48,000,000
Dumfries
£123,335
389.2
#4
#33
Gordon Ramsay

 

£49,188,940
Glasgow
£131,596
373.8
Stratford-on-Avon
£326,392
150.7
#5
#44
Depeche Mode
£42,048,610
Dave Gahan
Epping
£466,420
90.2
Martin Gore
Dagenham
£299,029
140.6
Andy Fletcher
Nottingham
£141,412
297.3
#6
#51
Paul McCartney
£37,685,075
Liverpool
£133,569
282.1
#7
#82
Rory McIlroy
£29,910,049
Holywood
£150,247
199.1
#8
#42
J.K. Rowling
£42,841,980
Yate
£279,912
153.1
#9
#47
Lewis Hamilton
£40,461,870
Stevenage
£291,879
138.6
#10
#80
Rolling Stones
£30,941,430
Mick Jagger
Dartford
£295,126
104.8
Keith Richards
Dartford
£295,126
104.8
Charlie Watts
Kingsbury
£474,540
65.2
Ronnie Wood
Hillingdon
£410,386
75.4
#11
#57
Elton John
£36,495,020
Pinner
£445,636
81.9
#12
#64
Simon Cowell
£34,511,595
Lambeth
£488,610
70.6
N/A
Gary Lineker
£1,754,999.00
Leicester
£170,238.07
10.3
Sources:

 

Properganda PR

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

You May Also Enjoy

small house bird box
Breaking News

UK First Time Buyers better off than many other global nations

Is it really that bad being a first-time buyer? UK better off than many other global nations when it comes to affordability The latest market analysis from Yopa, the full-service estate agents, reveals that first-time buyers (FTBs) in the UK may be paying 63% more to get a foot on the property ladder than they…
Read More
new build homes colchester essex
Breaking News

Building Safety Regulator Reform

The Government has announced reforms to the Building Safety Regulator, including leadership, process and investment. The changes are hoped to deliver 1.5 million homes. The reforms pave the way for creation of a single construction safety regulator, as recommended by the Grenfell Tower enquiry. David Smith, property litigation partner at London law firm Spector Constant…
Read More
Breaking News

New anti-money laundering rules now in effect: what landlords need to know

New anti-money laundering (AML) rules came into effect this month, marking a significant change for landlords and the lettings industry as a whole. The new rules mean financial sanctions checks are now required for all lettings, regardless of how much rent is charged. Here, Steve Bond, managing director of residential lettings for Beresfords, explains what…
Read More
Breaking News

What landlords need to know about the upcoming Renters Rights Bill

The government’s long-awaited Renters Rights Bill is one of the most significant overhauls of the private rental sector in decades. While it has not yet received royal assent, the legislation is expected to come into effect late this year, or early in 2026. With the bill moving closer to becoming law, Steven Bond, managing director…
Read More
Breaking News

Mortgage approvals bounce back in May

The latest figures show that: – Mortgage approvals on house purchases for May sat at 63,032 up 3.9% from 60,656 in April. The monthly increase seen in May marks the end of four months of previous decline, with approval levels having fallen each month since January of this year. Approvals are also 2.5% higher than…
Read More
Breaking News

Money and Credit – May 2025

Key points: Net borrowing of mortgage debt by individuals increased by £2.8 billion to £2.1 billion in May, following a large decrease in net borrowing of £13.8 billion to -£0.8 billion in April. Net mortgage approvals for house purchases increased by 2,400 to 63,000 in May. Approvals for remortgaging also increased by 6,200 to 41,500…
Read More