Stirling has overtaken Londonderry as the UK’s most affordable city, according the latest Affordable Cities Review by Lloyds Bank.

The average property price in Stirling now stands at £132,734, which is 3.3 times gross average annual earnings.

As a result of lower house prices, cities in Northern Ireland also continue to rank as among the most affordable in the UK, with Londonderry (3.56), Newry (3.90) and Belfast (4.12) following Stirling in the list. The most affordable city in England is Bradford at 4.15.

Overall, home affordability has improved in 51 of 62 UK cities in the last five years. The average price for a city home in the UK stands at £184,215 - 5.8 times gross annual average earnings, down from 6.1 in 2009 and just under 20% below the peak of 7.2 in 2008.

A clear north-south divide still remains among UK cities. The top 15 most affordable cities for homebuyers are in Scotland, Northern Ireland or the North of England, and the next five on the list are in the Midlands or Wales. At the other end of the spectrum, the 17 least affordable cities are all in southern England, with Lichfield, Leicester and York completing the top 20.

However, out of the top ten UK cities with the highest house price growth in the last decade, eight are in Scotland or the north. Scottish cities top the list, with Aberdeen (94%), Dundee (60%) and Inverness (46%) seeing the biggest changes. In England, Carlisle, Hull and Bradford all saw their house prices rise by 40% or more since 2004.

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