New research has revealed the least expensive places for homebuyers in the UK - and it's good news for those who want to get on the property ladder in the North East.
The research, conducted by PlumbNation , compared average property prices to the average size of a home around the country to find out which area offered home buyers the most 'bang for their buck'.
And it revealed that County Durham was the fifth most affordable local authority area in the whole of the country.
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With an average property price of £124,667, based on the median house size in the area, that works out at £1,326 per square metre.
Meanwhile Sunderland (ranked 17), Gateshead (25), South Tyneside (27), Northumberland (38), North Tyneside (59) and Newcastle (60) were all in the top half of the table.
The Welsh borough of Blaenau Gwent was the least expensive local authority for homebuyers, with a square metre of property costing just £1,268 on average.
The largely rural county borough covers a number of small towns such as Abertillery, Brynmawr, Ebbw Vale and Tredegar and is also partially covered by the Blaenavon Industrial Landscape World Heritage Site.
The least expensive English authority is Burnley, in Lancashire. Burnley is actually the cheapest place in the country when it comes to average house prices in general, at £112,394.
Combined with an average property size of 88 square metres, this equals a cost per square foot of just £1,277, which is over 20 times lower than some parts of central London.
Two of Burnley’s neighbouring areas, Hyndburn and Pendle, ranked 3rd and 4th with a marginal difference between the average cost per square metre.
The median floor space in Hyndburn is 95 square metres, each with an average cost of £1,290.
It will come as no surprise that London was the least affordable to live - not only were average house prices huge, the median floor space was much less.
Most expensive was Kensington and Chelsea, London, with an average house price of £1,425,437 divided by median floor space of 50 square metres meant the average cost per square metre was £28,509 - 21.5 higher than County Durham.
Westminster with £20,926 and City of London with £17,159 weren't far behind.
Rank. Local authority; Average house price; Median floor space (sq m); Average cost per square metre
1. Blaenau Gwent; £121,739; 96; £1,268
2. Burnley; £112,394; 88; £1,277
3. Hyndburn; £122,510; 95; £1,290
4. Pendle; £118,671; 91; £1,304
5. County Durham; £124,667; 94; £1,326
Where the other North East local authority areas ranked
17. Sunderland; £136,439; 90; £1,516
25. Gateshead; £147,895; 89; £1,662
27. South Tyneside; £151,467; 90; £1,683
38. Northumberland; £177,636; 96; £1,850
59. North Tyneside; £186,037; 92; £2,022
60. Newcastle; £178,220; 88; £2,025
