Liverpool tops Britain's property hotspot

Liverpool tops Britain's property hotspot

The top affordable property hotspots have been revealed - and Liverpool tops the list, according to new research.  

The city has seen the average price of a home rise 40 per cent in the past five years, according to research by Which? Mortgage Advisors. However having risen from £85,000 to £120,000, prices are still well below the UK average of £200,000.

It is followed by Conwy in North Wales and Bradford, which has seen prices rise 37 per cent and 36 per cent respectively.

The research took the average price of property between 2011 and 2014 - in a bid to smooth out any volatility in prices that would have skewed the data - and compared it to the average for the year to November 2015.

It only considered areas where homes are still cost less than the UK average of £200,000.  

In Conwy, average values rose from £135,000 during the 2011 and 2014 period to £185,000, while in Bradford the corresponding figures were £42,000 to £57,000. 

Other up and coming areas highlighted in the list include the London borough of Bexley, where prices have risen from £145,000 to £191,500 and Leeds where values have risen from £98,000 to £125,000.

David Blake, at Which? Mortgage Advisers, said: 'For a first-time buyer or a buy-to-let investor, these up and coming areas can provide an affordable alternative to buying in an already established area.

'You could see your property grow in value quickly, but it's important to remember that property markets can change, and there is never a cast-iron guarantee that values will continue to rise.

The research follows a report from Nationwide revealing that average house prices across the country have edged towards the £200,000 mark.

It said prices had increased 4.8 per cent in February compared with the previous month, reaching £196,930.

It attributed much of the increase to the impending increase in stamp duty on second homes which is due to take effect on April 1.

The stamp duty changes are widely considered to have prompted a 'significant number of purchases' which may lead to the property market cooling this summer.

Simon Rubinsohn, chief economist at RICS, said this week that it is 'inevitable' that April's stamp duty changes will take some of the current heat out of the housing market.