The latest research from online estate agent eMoov.co.uk looked at the pay gap between men and women and how that affected the size of mortgage they could borrow as a percentage of the average house price over the decade.
The gap between male and female affordability peaked at 17% in 2009 with the male salary rising to a 79% share of a mortgage on the average house price, to just 62% for women, with the higher threshold of affordability largely due to the market crash.
The deficit has remained at around 15% until 2013. It has reduced since then, but still remains at 12%.
The study used the latest ONS data for the average wage between 2006 and 2016 for both men and women, and then looked at their mortgage affordability at 4.5 times that wage. eMoov then showed the difference in mortgage availability as a percentage of the average house price at the time.
As house prices are finding their way back to their pre-crash peaks again, mortgage affordability for the average salary has fallen to 65% for men and 53% for women today.
“It’s a welcome sight that the gap in salary between men and women, and in turn mortgage affordability, has started to close over the last few years, but a gap remains none the less,” said Russell Quirk, founder and CEO of eMoov.co.uk.
“While the increasing growth in property values due to a severe lack of supply is an issue, the second side to it is the lack of growth in the average wage. If this was addressed, it would at least go some way in bridging the gap for those struggling to buy at present,” added Quirk.