Often known as ‘generation rent’, the percentage of millennials who actually own a permanent house in the UK is dwindling. It is reported that millennials now spend, on average, one quarter of their entire salary on housing – three times more than the 70+ generation!
With this in mind, Homedit.com wanted to find out the best, and worst, cities for millennials to buy a home based on eight criteria including: average house price; ultra-fast broadband availability; OFSTED rating for nurseries and primary schools; and pubs and bars per person.
They ranked each city’s data on a scale of 0%-100% based on their performance in relation to all other cities in the UK. Each city’s best factor is highlighted in green, and their worst factor in red. The results are as follows:
The top five cities for millennial homeowners:
| % millennial population | Affordable house price | Fast download speed | Ultra-fast broadband availability | Good 4G signal | % of green space | OFSTED rating (nursery and primary) | Pubs and bars per person | Final score out of 100 | |
| Dundee City | 78% | 91% | 82% | 81% | 93% | 88% | 57% | 66% | 79 |
| Nottingham | 76% | 76% | 88% | 94% | 82% | 93% | 69% | 45% | 78 |
| Kingston upon Hull | 69% | 99% | 100% | 100% | 99% | 61% | 30% | 37% | 74 |
| Liverpool | 81% | 81% | 63% | 60% | 73% | 90% | 66% | 60% | 71 |
| Edinburgh | 96% | 22% | 79% | 75% | 90% | 76% | 57% | 76% | 71 |
1. Dundee City
Dundee received a final score of 79/100 points, finishing first in the UK. Its best factor is good availability of 4G signal, and its worst factor is a low OFSTED rating for nurseries and primary schools.
2. Nottingham
Nottingham is the second best city, with a score of 78/100. Its best factor is good availability of ultra-fast broadband (great for millennials working from home!), but its worst factor is a below-average ratio of pubs and bars per person.
3. Kingston upon Hull
Hull is the third best city for millennials looking to buy a house, with 74/100 points. It gained full marks, and is the best city in the UK, for both fast average download speeds and good availability of ultra-fast broadband. But, Hull’s worst factor is their low average OFSTED ratings.
4. Liverpool
Liverpool comes joint fourth with a score of 71/100. Its best factor is its large percentage of green space, and its worst factors are both its poor availability of ultra-fast broadband, and the number of bars and pubs per person.
4. City of Edinburgh
Edinburgh comes joint fourth, also gaining 71/100. Edinburgh scores best for its percentage of the population that is made up of millennials, but its worst factor is having expensive house prices.
The worst five cities for millennial homeowners:
| % millennial population | Affordable house price | Fast download speed | Ultra-fast broadband availability | Good 4G signal | % of green space | OFSTED rating (nursery and primary) | Pubs and bars per person | Final score out of 100 | |
| East Cambridgeshire | 15% | 20% | 24% | 18% | 6% | 7% | 0% | 34% | 15 |
| Chichester | 0% | 8% | 10% | 7% | 22% | 19% | 15% | 94% | 22 |
| Highland | 13% | 64% | 0% | 4% | 9% | 0% | 57% | 31% | 22 |
| Pembrokeshire | 7% | 46% | 6% | 1% | 12% | 6% | 3% | 100% | 23 |
| Cornwall | 4% | 30% | 9% | 16% | 16% | 13% | 20% | 93% | 25 |
1. East Cambridgeshire
East Cambridgeshire is the worst city for millennials to buy a home, gaining just 15/100 points in total. Its worst factor is its low OFSTED ratings for nurseries and primary schools – the lowest in the UK! Its best factor, although still below average, is the city’s number of pubs and bars per person.
2. Chichester
Chichester is the joint second worst city, finishing with a total of 22/100 points. The city’s worst factor is its percentage of millennials in comparison to the rest of the population – the lowest in the UK. But its best factor is its high number of pubs and bars per person.
2. Highland
Also in joint second is Highland, with 22/100 points. Highland is the worst city in the country for both its small amount of green space and its slow average download speeds! But the city’s best factor is its lower-than-average house prices.
4. Pembrokeshire
The fourth worst city for millennials to settle down is Pembrokeshire, scoring 23/100. Their worst factor is poor availability of ultra-fast broadband, but Pembrokshire ranks best in the UK for its number of pubs and bars per person.
5. Cornwall
Cornwall is fifth from bottom, with 25/100. Its worst factor is the low number of millennials living there, but its best factor is its number of pubs and bars per person.
Please see Homedit’s blog post for more information: https://www.homedit.com/best-uk-cities-become-millennial–homeowner/