Yahoo Finance The UK town where average house prices are just £70,311 - and nine other affordable property spots
First-time buyers in the UK face a tough market, with average house prices up 181pc since the start of the millennium.
Today, prospective buyers can expect to pay an average of £211,000 for their first home, significantly more than in 2000 when the average spend was £75,000.
But there are still bargain property spots to be found.
Online estate agency Hatched has analysed the housing market for first-time buyers and found the areas that represent opportunities for those wanting to get their foot on the property ladder.
The research shows that the most affordable place for first-time buyers today is Burnley in Lancashire, where property prices average just £70,311.
East Ayrshire in Scotland is also a bargain property spot, with average prices just under £75,000, while average prices in Blaenau Gwent, south Wales, are just slightly higher at £75,442.
Other affordable places for first-time buyers include Pendle in Lancashire (£76,432) and west Dunbartonshire in Scotland (£83,195), the research found.
When looking at property prices vs average local earnings in each region, the most affordable place for first-time buyers is east Dunbartonshire, where house prices are 2.6 times that of local annual earnings.
Copeland in west Cumbria and east Renfrewshire are also high on the affordability list, with house prices in the regions on average just 2.9 and three times local earnings, respectively.
Unsurprisingly, London locations make up the least affordable places for first-time buyers, with property prices for the top 10 least affordable locations ranging from £520,547 in Hackney to an eye-watering £1,311,684 in Kensington and Chelsea.
PwC last year predicted that London would become a city of renters by 2025, with only 40pc owning their own home. Back in 2000, 60pc of Londoners owned a house, either with a mortgage or outright.
David Martin of Hatched said: “The fact that the number of first-time buyers has been steadily decreasing since the start of the millennium might be due to the increasing difficulties people face when trying to become homeowners. These difficulties are typically around property availability and suitability, lending and help to buy, and of course the overall price aspect.
“The younger generations (particularly millennials) are especially being hit by these barriers, and are either having to stay at home with parents for longer or find themselves falling into ‘generation rent’."
