Lancaster records second highest house price rise in Britain outside London, new figures show

London was excluded from the main research, but the strongest asking price growth in London was in West Norwood, which increased by 12 per cent annually – a slower rate than in Paisley but matching the 12 per cent growth also recorded in Lancaster and Wigan.

Asking prices in Lancaster averaged £197,790, and the city ranked ahead of other towns and cities including Keighley, Newquay and Liverpool.

Michelle Gallagher, from Lancaster estate agents JD Gallagher, said: "It's great seeing Lancaster appear as one of the top performing hot spots of the UK.

"The city has lots to offer both in terms of education and employment however what people often overlooked in the past is just how much public open green space and the great sense of the community we have.

"Property in Lancaster is in high demand, especially family sized homes with gardens.

"A prime example is a house in Bowerham which has just come available for sale.

"In just 24 hours we have already booked 15 viewings.

"Higher priced homes have also been performing exceptionally well, fuelled by the stamp duty holiday which is now widely expected to be extended in next week's budget announcement.

"It's going to make for an interesting few months!"

Rightmove said local estate agents in Paisley, close to Glasgow, report that access to nature and green spaces may have contributed to the rising prices.

Both of these attributes are said to have become more important to some home movers during coronavirus lockdowns.

Here are the top 10 asking price hotspots outside London with the average asking price in February 2021 and the annual percentage change, according to Rightmove:

1. Paisley, Renfrewshire, £126,903, 15%

=2. Lancaster, Lancashire, £197,790, 12%

=2. Wigan, Greater Manchester, £175,202, 12%

=4. Bishop Auckland, County Durham, £135,736, 11%

=4. Keighley, West Yorkshire, £195,175, 11%

=4. Pudsey, West Yorkshire, £225,530, 11%

=4. Newquay, Cornwall, £294,381, 11%

=4. Neath, South Glamorgan, £160,541, 11%

=9. Wallasey, Merseyside, £174,003, 10%

=9. Liverpool, Merseyside, £175,300, 10%

Rightmove’s director of property data Tim Bannister said: “Demand for property in Paisley is very high at the moment, with searches for homes to buy in the town having risen by 44% compared to this time last year.

“Naturally, demand leads to rising prices and with swathes of rolling countryside on the doorstep, it makes sense that Paisley is such a popular destination for home movers looking for more space.

“With regards to the other price hotspots in our table, it’s interesting that places in the North West are continuing to perform really strongly.

“A recent study of ours found that the biggest ‘winners’ for property prices for all of 2020 were suburban areas in the North West, especially towns near Liverpool and Manchester, and this latest research illustrates that this trend is very much still alive.”