Research into the housing market throughout 2017 has revealed the areas of the UK where property prices increased and decreased the most last year. Cheltenham in Gloucestershire was the place where prices grew at the fastest pace, with the average price of £313,150 marking a 13% rise – nearly five times the UK average increase of 2.7%. At the other end of the scale was the Scottish town of Perth, where prices dropped by 5.3% to make the average property price tag £180,687.

The places which saw the biggest growth were in southern England, with Bournemouth and Brighton coming in second and third place with rises of 11.7% and 11.4% respectively. At the other end of the scale, Scotland, Yorkshire and the Humber were the areas where the biggest falls were seen. The second-biggest fall in house prices was seen in Stoke-on-Trent (4%), with Paisley in third position (3.6%).

Fifteen out of the top twenty areas for house price increases are located in London and southern England. This is in spite of the capital overall seeing its average house price fall by 0.5%, thanks to the economy slowing down and consumers continuing to feel the effects following the Brexit vote of 2016.