In a survey by the Royal Bank of Scotland, Beverley in Yorkshire was found to be the best value town for property; Maidstone in Kent came second, third was Chester and fourth was Perth in Scotland.

Maidstone was also named best value town in the South East. The bank’s Affordable Affluence Index considered positive ‘lifestyle indicators’ such as upmarket shops and restaurants, and compared this with ‘negative’ influences such as betting shops and lower end supermarkets. In the survey, these ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ factors were weighed up to give an ‘affluence score’. Property affordability was then worked out to determine the overall index position of each location.