While the government takes on this week’s Comprehensive Spending Review, the housing market is bracing itself for what are sure to be cutbacks in the areas of the UK where public sector employment is significant.  Property website Zoopla.co.uk has taken a close look at areas most, and least affected.

Leading the list with 46 per cent of all workers employed in the public sector is Oxford.  Average house prices there have already dropped 4 per cent to 326,396 pounds.

Closely following Oxford, where occupants employed in the public sector account for 40 per cent, are Cambridge, Middlesborough, Hastings, Canterbury, Stafford and West Dorset.

Conversely, those least likely to be negatively affected by public sector cutbacks live int eh City of London.  Only 4 per cent of the occupants living in the Capital City are employed in the public sector.  Average home prices there sit around 470,000 pounds and have risen 3 per cent over the last 3 years.

Other areas minimally affected, having only 15 per cent of the workforce in the public sector, include Crawley, North Warwickshire, Corby, Broxbourne, North West Leicestershire and Bracknell Forest.

The commercial director of Zoopla.co.uk commented on the impact felt across the UK by the governmental cuts in public sector jobs, saying: “The country is braced for extensive cuts to government spending and a significant number of public sector job losses are anticipated over the coming years. In areas where more people are employed by the state, rising unemployment will lead to more homeowners struggling to pay their mortgages as well as dampening demand from buyers, which will put downward pressure on house prices in these areas.

"House prices are likely to be far more resilient in areas with a smaller share of public sector employees.”