Greenwhich the SECOND hardest place to save for an engagement ring, study finds

A new study has revealed the areas in the UK where it will take the longest to save for an engagement ring, unveiling just how badly some areas have been impacted by the cost of living crisis – with Dartford topping the ranking.

Experts in customised jewellery, Glamira.co.uk, calculated the number of months the average person in each local authority would need to save to afford an engagement ring, using the rule that three months’ salary should be spent.

The study found each area’s average monthly household income before subtracting cost of living deductions, like mortgage payments and essential expenditures, to give remaining spendable income. Based on this figure, the number of months needed to afford an engagement ring, in accordance with the three-month rule, was calculated and ranked from longest to shortest.

At the top of the ranking by far is Dartford in Kent, where residents would have to wait a staggering length of 3,328.5 months, or approximately 277 years, following the metrics in this study.

Unfortunately, findings show some areas like Dartford would severely struggle to, if able to at all, spend three months’ pay on an engagement ring.

In second place is Greenwich in London, where residents are estimated to wait a shocking 1,516.6 months, or about 126 years, to save for an engagement ring that costs three months of their salary.

Waltham Forest residents, another London location, are in third place; they would need to save for 686.5 months, or 57.21 years, if they wish to spend this much on an engagement ring.

Next in the ranking is Ipswich, Suffolk, in fourth place. Locals would need to wait approximately 603.3 months, which is about 50 years, to save for an engagement ring.

In fifth place is Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, where residents would have to save for 460.6 months to get a ring – that is 38.39 years if they wish to follow the three-month rule.

Residents in West Suffolk would need to wait 310.8 months, or 25.9 years, to save up enough for a three-month rule engagement ring, putting this area in sixth place.

Seventh is North Norfolk, where it would take residents up to 208.1 months, or 17.34 years, to save up to three months’ salary for an engagement ring. So far in the ranking, London or surrounding areas in the South East of England will take the longest to save for an engagement ring.

Sutton is next, another London area where locals would need 186.3 months, or 15.53 years, to save for an engagement ring.

Gravesham in Kent is in ninth place, as residents would need 185.8 months to save for a ring following the three-month rule. This equates to approximately 15.5 years.

Lastly, Blaby, Leicestershire, is in tenth place, the first location in the ranking that is not in the South East. Residents of Blaby, which is in the East Midlands, would need to save for 178.9 months, or 14.91 years, if they wish to follow the three-month rule for an engagement ring.