Where in Britain do lawyers get the most bang for their buck, lifestyle-wise? The Brief updates its analysis of salary and housing market data to identify the most, and least, affordable legal centres.

Back in February 2023, The Brief crunched the data from its annual salary survey and housing market data from Zoopla to rank the UK’s legal centres for affordability.

A lot has happened in the intervening three years, including a new government, shifting expectations in regard to office/flexible working, and the ubiquitous adoption of AI.

Inflation, while not at 2023 levels, is only just coming under control, and relatively high interest rates, coupled with weak economic confidence, have had a dampening effect on the housing market in many areas.

With all of this in mind we decided the time had come to revisit our analysis and see what, if anything had changed.

Methodology

For ease of comparison, we have adopted the same methodology as last time, taking the mode (most common) salary for six years PQE solicitors at regional or boutique commercial firms and junior partners at national or international commercial firms, and comparing them to, respectively, the average price over the past 12 months of a semi-detached or a detached house sold in one of their largest regional legal centre’s most affluent suburbs.

Again, we chose to concentrate on lawyers at regional, national and international firms both because of the availability of comparable data and because, in general, lawyers are more likely to relocate around the country to work for larger firms than for smaller high-street practices.

Again, for simplicity, we have used the same neighbourhoods:

·       Chiswick in London

·       Altrincham in Greater Manchester

·       Horsforth in Leeds

·       Edgbaston in Birmingham

·       Rushcliffe in Nottinghamshire

·       Chesterton in Cambridge

·       Jesmond in Newcastle

·       Henleaze in Bristol

·       St Cross in Winchester

·       Bearsden in East Dunbartonshire, just outside Glasgow

However, this time around we have also looked at another group – younger solicitors with two years’ PQE, working for regional (West End in London) or boutique commercial firms buying city centre flats. The postcode areas we chose were:

·       SE15 (Peckham) in London

·       M4 in Manchester, which covers Ancoats and New Islington

·       LS10 in Leeds, which includes Hunslet

·       B18 in Birmingham, which includes the city’s Jewellery Quarter

·       NG1 in Nottingham, which includes the Hockley district

·       CB1 in Cambridge, which covers both Cherry Hinton and the Mill Road Area

·       NE1 in Newcastle, which includes Quayside

·       BS3 in Bristol, which includes Bedminster

·       PO5 in Portsmouth, which includes Southsea

·       G5 in Glasgow, which includes Gorbals

The good news? Affordability has improved noticeably in many regions, both as a result of often significant higher salaries and, in some cases, markedly lower house prices. Because these are desirable areas it may also be that, in response to a slowing market, the highest-end homes have simply not been selling (possibly not even coming onto the market), thereby depressing the average.

Moving up

Based on salary multiples (shown in brackets) the most affordable regions for an average six years PQE solicitor at a regional or boutique commercial firm purchasing a semi-detached house in one of their region’s most desirable suburbs are, in reverse order:

10. London* (15 times mode salary. 2023: 27 times)

9. East of England (13 times. 2023: 14 times)

8. North East (12 times. 2023: 10 times)

7. West Midlands (11 times. 2023: 17 times)

6 (joint). South East (9 times. 2023: 15 times)

6 (joint). South West (9 times. 2023: 11 times)

4 (joint). North West (8 times. 2023: 11 times)

4 (joint). East Midlands (8 times. 2023: 8 times)

2 (joint). Scotland (6 times. 2023: 7 times)

2 (joint). Yorkshire (6 times. 2023: 6 times)

*Because of differences in the type of housing stock in the capital compared to much of the rest of the UK we have this year (unlike 2023) used the average selling price for a terraced house rather than a semi-detached.

Forever homes

The best locations for quality of life for junior partners at the biggest firms have not changed since 2023, although affordability has improved markedly in both London and the North East. This could partly be the effect of smaller sample sizes than for more junior lawyers and smaller houses.

In reverse order the most affordable legal centres we identified were:

10 (joint). London (11 times mode salary. 2023: 27 times)

10 (joint). North East (11 times. 2023: 27 times)

8. North West (10 times. 2023: 12 times)

7. South West (9 times. 2023: 9 times)

6. South East (8 times. 2023: 9 times)

5. West Midlands (7 times. 2023: 8 times)

4 (joint). Scotland (6 times. 2023:6 times)

4 (joint). East of England (6 times. 2023: 6 times)

2 (joint). East Midlands (5 times. 2023: 5 times)

2 (joint). Yorkshire (5 times. 2023: 5 times)

Starting out

With the exception of the West Midlands, the same areas were within a place or two of each other in both of the previous affordability tables. However, when we look at city centre flats for early career professionals (two years’ PQE at regional, boutique or West End firms), the picture is a bit different – most notably in the case of Cambridge city centre:

10. East of England (8 times mode salary)

9. London (7 times)

8. North West (5 times)

7 (joint). North East (4 times)

7 (joint). South West (4 times)

7 (joint). West Midlands (4 times)

7 (joint). Scotland (4 times)

7 (joint). East Midlands (4 times)

2 (joint). South East (3 times)

2 (joint). Yorkshire (3 times)

Analysis

As in 2023, there are some surprising results and, like then, the most surprising one is probably the North East. Jesmond, it turns out, is just very expensive, particularly in comparison to lawyers’ salaries locally. It is, however, much less unaffordable than it was three years ago, as is the chichi West London neighbourhood, Chiswick.

Not all areas are directly comparable to each other but, on the whole, when looking at semis and detached houses, we tried to identify well-established desirable neighbourhoods within reasonable commuting distance of their respective city centres.

At the entry level, meanwhile, we focused on flats in “up-and-coming” neighbourhoods either in or adjacent to the city centres in question. The big shock here might be the relative unaffordability of the East of England for earlier-career first-home buyers compared to its position for those with more years under their belts planning a move to the suburbs.

When looking at semis and detached houses, we tried to identify well-established desirable neighbourhoods within reasonable commuting distance of their respective city centres.

This anomaly appears to be a combination of regional salaries and eye-watering property prices in Cambridge city centre. Young professionals in what is quite a compact city may, therefore, be more likely to live comparatively further out from the central district.

However, detached homes in the Chesterton neighbourhood are also very expensive compared to semi-detached houses. This could be a function of relatively few transactions taking place, thereby generating a skewed average.

Size matters

“Scotland” and the “South East” are obviously both huge areas that are each home to many different towns and cities. If we had chosen Edinburgh rather than Glasgow, or Tunbridge Wells rather than Winchester and Portsmouth, we might have come up with very different results.

London is, of course, not directly comparable to any other UK cities. Because its central areas tend to be the preserve of oligarchs, when choosing an up-and-coming neighbourhood we cast our net out to Zone 2 which, although not on the doorstep of Soho, has a lot more in common with areas like Manchester’s Ancoats or Hunslet in Leeds.

Relative values

Finally, it is worth bearing in mind that although housing might be more affordable in one area than another, the absolute salary differentials between regions might mean you are still better off in a more costly area despite relatively higher housing costs.

This year Yorkshire and the East Midlands tied on housing affordability. However, average salaries in Yorkshire are significantly higher, so a junior partner at a top national/international firm in Leeds would still be more than £7,000 a year better off after tax than their counterpart in Nottingham, assuming both bought average detached houses in the areas we identified with 20-year mortgages, paying an interest rate of five per cent.

Money is obviously not the only, or even necessarily the main, consideration when deciding where to locate and put down roots. A bit of time spent with a calculator can, however, prove very interesting if you’re undecided.

Image generated using AI.