Cheltenham Home Affordability: How Many Homes Can a Typical Earner Afford?
The share of homes sold in Cheltenham each year that a typical full-time earner could afford, since 2008, for all homes and for flats, terraced, semi-detached and detached homes.
How Many Homes Can a Typical Earner Afford?
House prices and pay tell you what has happened on average. This page asks a more practical question: of the homes that actually sold in Cheltenham, how many could someone on a typical wage have afforded?
In 2025, 374 of the 3,281 homes sold in Cheltenham (11.4%) went for £186,296 or less, which is 4.5 times the £41,399 median full-time pay of people who live in the borough. That is about 1 in 9. The share was lowest in 2018, when it fell to 5.6% (about 1 in 18), and highest in 2009 at 13.8%. In 2008 it was 11.6%.
The chart and table show how the picture differs by type of home. Flats are the only kind where a typical earner has a realistic choice, while detached homes are almost never within reach.
A sale counts as affordable when its price is no more than 4.5 times median gross annual full-time pay, roughly the most a lender will usually offer one borrower. It assumes a single income and doesn’t allow for a deposit, other debts or the current mortgage rate, so treat it as a guide to how much of the market is in reach rather than a mortgage calculation. Pay is the median for residents of Cheltenham from the earnings history, and sales come from the house prices data. For renters, see rent prices.
Share of Homes Sold Within Reach
Year by Year
| Year | Median Pay | Price Limit (4.5×) | Sales | Within Reach | All Homes (%) | Flats (%) | Terraced (%) | Semi-Detached (%) | Detached (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | £41,399 | £186,296 | 3,281 | 374 | 11.4 | 42.6 | 6.6 | 2.1 | 0.1 |
| 2024 | £40,010 | £180,045 | 3,004 | 312 | 10.4 | 38.3 | 5.2 | 1.3 | 0.0 |
| 2023 | £36,589 | £164,650 | 2,723 | 248 | 9.1 | 30.9 | 3.9 | 2.1 | 0.2 |
| 2022 | £38,064 | £171,288 | 3,404 | 367 | 10.8 | 32.3 | 6.0 | 3.1 | 0.0 |
| 2021 | £34,095 | £153,428 | 4,331 | 322 | 7.4 | 26.1 | 3.5 | 1.4 | 0.0 |
| 2020 | £33,694 | £151,623 | 2,941 | 238 | 8.1 | 35.6 | 4.0 | 2.5 | 0.0 |
| 2019 | £33,209 | £149,440 | 3,205 | 297 | 9.3 | 31.5 | 6.1 | 3.9 | 0.0 |
| 2018 | £29,861 | £134,374 | 3,654 | 204 | 5.6 | 20.9 | 2.9 | 1.1 | 0.0 |
| 2017 | £29,365 | £132,142 | 3,819 | 216 | 5.7 | 22.5 | 2.5 | 0.6 | 0.0 |
| 2016 | £28,264 | £127,188 | 3,978 | 302 | 7.6 | 28.7 | 3.1 | 0.7 | 0.0 |
| 2015 | £29,804 | £134,118 | 3,687 | 366 | 9.9 | 33.6 | 5.5 | 2.2 | 0.6 |
| 2014 | £29,045 | £130,702 | 3,739 | 427 | 11.4 | 36.0 | 7.4 | 4.0 | 0.1 |
| 2013 | £29,645 | £133,402 | 3,006 | 384 | 12.8 | 42.3 | 13.1 | 5.4 | 0.1 |
| 2012 | £28,417 | £127,876 | 2,370 | 282 | 11.9 | 39.2 | 10.8 | 4.5 | 0.2 |
| 2011 | £27,020 | £121,590 | 2,324 | 259 | 11.1 | 36.9 | 12.1 | 4.5 | 0.9 |
| 2010 | £27,273 | £122,728 | 2,526 | 247 | 9.8 | 31.0 | 11.1 | 4.1 | 0.9 |
| 2009 | £28,262 | £127,179 | 2,529 | 348 | 13.8 | 40.0 | 13.6 | 7.4 | 0.7 |
| 2008 | £27,052 | £121,734 | 2,208 | 257 | 11.6 | 29.6 | 10.0 | 5.1 | 1.0 |
Sales from HM Land Registry Price Paid Data and pay from the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings via Nomis, both published under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Sales exclude the Land Registry's "other" property type. Last updated 21 September 2026.
FAQs
How Is "Affordable" Worked Out?
A home sale counts as affordable when its price is no more than 4.5 times the median gross annual pay of full-time workers who live in Cheltenham that year. 4.5 times pay is roughly the most a lender will usually offer one borrower.
Does It Allow for a Deposit or Household Income?
No. It uses one typical income and doesn't allow for a deposit, other debts or the mortgage rate. Two earners, a large deposit or help from family would put more homes in reach, and no deposit, or a higher interest rate, would put fewer.
Why Do Flats Look So Different From Houses?
Flats sell for far less than houses in Cheltenham, so a much larger share of them fall under the price limit. Detached homes sell for much more, so almost none do.
Why Does the Share Jump Between Some Years?
Both sales and pay change from year to year. Pay comes from a survey each April, so a big move in one year's estimate shows up straight away in the price limit, and the mix of homes that happen to sell also shifts. Look at the trend over several years rather than any single year.
Where Does the Data Come From?
Sales are HM Land Registry Price Paid Data for Cheltenham, and pay is the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings for residents of the borough. The page is refreshed monthly, and a year is added once it has finished and its pay figure has been published.
Can I Compare It With the ONS Affordability Ratio?
Yes. The ONS publishes a house price to earnings ratio for every local authority, which is a single number for the whole market. This page shows the same picture as a share of the homes actually sold.