Look north to Hull for UK's most affordable place for first-time buyers

Hull is the best value city for first-time buyers to get a foot on the property ladder. The east Yorkshire town topped a list of the most affordable places for newcomers to home owning.

First-time buyers need a deposit of less than £16,000 to buy their first home in Hull. Other affordable hotspots are Middlesbrough, Liverpool and Nottingham.

Online estate agent Zoopla pinpointed Hull's affordability when analysing the average property prices, deposit amount, payable Stamp Duty Land Tax and mortgage repayment costs across 50 UK cities. Each city was scored out of 10 to rank its affordability with Hull, the UK's City of Culture in 2017, taking the top spot.

The top 10 of least affordable places for a first-time buyer to purchase a home was, unsurprisingly, London, followed by Cambridge, Brighton, Colchester and Reading. In fact, eight of the least affordable cities were in the south of England with six of the most affordable in the north.

Lawrence Hall of Zoopla said: "It's no surprise to see cities in the north offering the most viable options for first-time buyers in Britain.

"Prices in southern England have continued to rise at a relatively fast rate, making it very dificult for the average first-time buyer to get on the property ladder."

First-time buyers in London need an average deposit of £77,7272, while those in Hull must find a much more reasonable £15,656.

The recent changes to Stamp Duty Land Tax for first-time buyers has also had an effect on affordability. First-time buyers don't pay the duty on the first £300,000 of a property transaction, meaning newcomers to owning a home are actually saving on tax because the average cost of a property is above the former threshold of £300,000.

The top 10 most affordable cities for first-time buyers in the UK, according to Zoopla, are:

1. Hull, average property price £104,376, deposit £15,656
2. Middlesbrough, average property price £107,041, deposit £16,056
3. Liverpool, average property price £122,137, deposit £18,320
4. Nottingham, average property price £133,631, deposit £20,045
5. Coventry, average property price £171,189, deposit £25,678
6. Manchester, average property price £168,761, deposit £25,314
7. Swansea, average property price £133,514, deposit £20,027
8. Stone-on-Trent, average property price £109,953, deposit £16,493
9. Doncaster, average property price £115,313, deposit £17,297
10. Preston, average property price £125,840, deposit £18,876

The top 10 least affordable cities for first-time buyers are, say Zoopla:

1. London, average property price £518,178, deposit £77,727
2. Cambridge, average property price £438,109, deposit £65,716
3. Brighton, average property price £420,301, deposit £63,045
4. Colchester, average property price £255,221, deposit £38,283
5. Reading, average property price £325,354, deposit £48,803
6. Bedford, average property price £252,060, deposit £37,809
7. Bournemouth, average property price £294,275, deposit £44,141
8. York, average property price £229,319, deposit £34,398
9. Edinburgh, average property price £260,897, deposit £39,135
10. Milton Keynes, average property price £255,573, deposit £38,336