Oxford has been named the best place in the UK to buy a first home.
Though the historic university city has repeatedly been called the UK's least affordable, it topped a new list compiled by Money Supermarket, who ranked 35 UK cities according to factors especially relevant to first-time buyers.
These included the average price of a one-bedroom property, local crime statistics and job opportunities, and the average salary in the local area.
The average property in Oxford costs around £430,000, nearly double the national average of £225,000. However, Money Supermarket said the "city of dreaming spires" placed top of the pile thanks to "its high average salaries, good job opportunities and position within the commuting belt to London".
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Bath (where the average property price is around £460,000), Wolverhampton (around £180,000), York (around £260,000) and Aberdeen (around £195,000) completed the top five cities on the list.
Despite its slight recent drop in property prices, London still finished bottom of the 35 cities analysed because of high prices and high burglary rates. Newry in Northern Ireland and Hull completed the bottom three cities on the list.
Kevin Pratt, Money Super Market's consumer affairs expert, said of the results: “Buying a property for the first time is exciting, but it comes with the hard decision of choosing a location that suits your budget, your job and your lifestyle. What is crucial is that people take the full range of factors into account."
Pratt added: “The first-time buyer sector is showing signs of life as property prices fall in some areas, thanks to the heat going out of the buy-to-let market. If buyers can be flexible, they stand a better chance of finding somewhere they can afford to purchase.”
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