There are 17 towns and cities in the UK where it’s possible to buy a flat for less than £80,000, according to Housesimple.

The online estate agent looked for the best value areas are for buyers looking to climb onto the first rung of the property ladder.

Not surprisingly, the North West and North East came out on top, with Burnley offering the best value for buyers. The average sold price of a flat in Burnley was just £54,161, the best priced anywhere in the UK.

Hartlepool (£57,659), is the only other town where the average price of a flat was under £60,000.

And 18 out of the 20 most affordable towns or cities in the UK to purchase a flat were located in the north of England. Stoke-on-Trent and Mansfield, both in the Midlands, were the only towns outside the North that featured in the list.

The towns with flat prices below £80K

1. Burnley, North West, £54,161
2. Hartlepool, North East, £57,659
3. Middlesbrough, North East, £63,100
4. Durham, North East, £63,638
5. Blackpool, North West, £67,670
6. Preston, North West, £74,084
7. Barnsley, Yorkshire & the Humber, £74,640
8. Stoke-on-Trent, West Midlands, £75,104
9. Sunderland, North East, £75,883
10. St Helens, North West, £75,946
11. Wigan, North West, £76,577
12. Blackburn, North West, £76,641
13. Mansfield, East Midlands, £76,973
14. Rochdale, North West, £79,029
15. Carlisle, North West, £79,600
16. Doncaster, Yorkshire & the Humber, £79,806

Southern prices

There are no towns or cities in the south of England where the average sold price of a flat was less than £100,000 according to the latest Land Registry figures. Swindon offers the best value in the south, with the average price of a flat under £150,000 at £140,847.

In London, there are three boroughs where the average price of a flat is under £250,000 – these are Havering (£232,536), Barking and Dagenham (£234,655) and Bexley (£239,366).

Sam Mitchell, CEO of Housesimple, said: “The north of England continues to offer great value for money across the board; whether you’re a first time buyer looking for a starter flat, to families looking for that forever home.

“With plenty of stock coming onto the market at affordable levels in the north west and north east, at prices that are just three or four times the average UK salary, home ownership is a reality not a pipe-dream.

“Our research also brings into sharp relief the issues facing buyers in the south, where more and more people, including young families, are joining ‘Generation Rent’ as they struggle to save a sizeable deposit to afford even a basic one-bedroom flat.”