Salary needed to buy a home in Dorset
Local home prices and full-time pay in Dorset, with deposit examples and an estimate of how long saving could take.
Deposit and income examples
| Deposit | Amount to save | Mortgage needed | Gross income at 4.5× | Time to save |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5% | £16,258 | £308,896 | £68,644 | 2 years 8 months |
| 10% | £32,515 | £292,639 | £65,031 | 5 years 4 months |
How long might saving take?
The estimate assumes one person earning the local median full-time gross pay (£37,462 a year), with no pension or student-loan deductions. Estimated take-home is £2,541.17 a month using 2026/27 tax rules. Saving 20% is about £508.23 a month. It assumes no interest, no savings already set aside, no rise in house prices and uninterrupted monthly saving.
The mortgage income multiple applies to gross income of the borrower or borrowers together. The examples use one mortgage at 4.5× income after paying the stated deposit; fees, taxes on purchase and lender criteria are not included.
Sources and data notes
- House prices: HM Land Registry, UK House Price Index, July 2026 (Northern Ireland publishes HPI quarterly; the July file carries the latest April to June 2026 figures for its local government districts.)
- England, Scotland and Wales earnings: ONS ASHE 2025 provisional, Table 8.7a by place of residence
- Northern Ireland earnings: NISRA ASHE 2025 provisional by Local Government District of residence
- Pay measure: Median annual gross pay for full-time employee jobs at place of residence (ONS Table 8.7a; NISRA corresponding NI table). ONS describes median as its preferred measure of typical earnings because it is less affected by a small number of high earners. Estimates marked unreliable or unavailable are not used.
- Take-home estimate: our take-home pay engine, using 2026/27 tax rules; no pension or student loan.
Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2020. This data is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Earnings are not a household-income measure. Northern Ireland house prices update quarterly.