The Gloucestershire town of Cheltenham saw the highest percentage rise in house prices of any major UK town or city in 2017, according to new research by Halifax.  

The average house price in the town that’s located on the edge of the Cotswolds and is famous for its horse racing and cultural festivals, was 13% higher than in the previous year, increasing from £277,118 to £313,150 in 2017; nearly five times the 2.7% increase in the UK as a whole.

The seaside town of Bournemouth on the south coast experienced the second biggest rise, with an increase of 11.7%, while nearby Brighton completed the top three with an 11.4% rise in the past year.

Fifteen of the 20 top house price performers are in London and southern England – these include Crawley (10.4%), Newham (10.2%), Peterborough (10.1%), Gloucester (9.5%) and Exeter (9.1%).

Huddersfield (9.3%) in Yorkshire and the Humber, Nottingham (8.9%) and Lincoln (8.4%) in the East Midlands along with Stockport in the North West (8.2%) and Swansea in Wales (7.7%) are the top performers outside London and the South, making the top 20 this year.