Understanding the Bread Index

The Bread Index is a unique way to understand house price changes by measuring property values in terms of everyday items—specifically, loaves of bread.

Why Bread?

Bread is a universal staple that everyone understands. By converting house prices into "loaves of bread," we make abstract property values more tangible and relatable.

How It Works

The Calculation

For each region and time period, we calculate:

Average House Price: The mean property value in that area
Bread Loaves: How many loaves of bread you could buy for the same price
Salary Multiple: How many years of median salary it would take to buy a house

Real Terms vs Nominal

We provide both:

Nominal prices: The actual price in pounds
Real terms: Adjusted for inflation to show true purchasing power changes

What You Can Learn

Regional Comparisons

Compare how affordable housing is across different parts of the UK. A region might have lower house prices, but if bread is also cheaper there, the relative affordability might be similar.

Trends Over Time

See whether houses are becoming more or less affordable relative to everyday goods. If it takes more loaves of bread to buy a house now than 10 years ago, housing has become less affordable.

Investment Performance

Track which regions are seeing the fastest growth or decline in property values, helping inform investment decisions.

Getting Started

Explore our locations page to see data for your area, or use the comparison tool to analyze multiple regions side-by-side.