WINCHESTER has been ranked as one of the least affordable cities to buy a home in the UK.

New figures released by Lloyds Bank show the city was only more affordable than Oxford and Chichester.

Southampton also featured in the list, ranking eighth, while Londonderry, in Northern Ireland, was ranked as the most affordable city.

It comes as the figures show city living is at its least affordable levels for home buyers since 2007.

The average house price in a UK city in 2018 equated to 7.2 times average annual earnings – making the cost of buying a home the least affordable since 2007 when buyers had to fork out 7.5-times their income typically, Lloyds Bank found.

The average home in a city cost £248,233 while average full-time earnings stood at £34,366.

Lloyds found seven cities where the average house price tops 10 times earnings – Oxford, Chichester, Winchester (11.3-times earnings), Truro, London, Bath and Cambridge.

Southampton's average house prices were found to be 9.7-times earnings.

Andrew Mason, mortgage products director at Lloyds Bank, said: "Buying a home in UK cities remains challenging, as average house prices are outpacing wage growth.

"Home owners are still attracted to cities across the UK, in spite of rising costs."

The index tracked housing affordability in 62 cities across the UK using Lloyds' sister bank Halifax's housing statistics and Office for National Statistics (ONS) earnings figures.

Here are the top 20 most affordable cities in the UK, with the average house price-to-earnings ratio, according to Lloyds Bank:

=1. Londonderry, Northern Ireland, 4.4

=1. Stirling, Scotland, 4.4

3. Newry, Northern Ireland, 4.5

4. Bradford, Yorkshire and Humberside, 4.6

5. Lancaster, North West, 4.7

=6. Belfast, Northern Ireland, 5.0

=6. Aberdeen, Scotland, 5.0

=8. Perth, Scotland, 5.1

=8. Hereford, West Midlands, 5.1

10. Sunderland, North East, 5.2

11. Carlisle, North West, 5.3

=12. Liverpool, North West, 5.4

=12. Dundee, Scotland, 5.4

=14. Swansea, Wales, 5.5

=14. Glasgow, Scotland, 5.5

=14. Stoke-on-Trent, West Midlands, 5.5

=14. Durham, North East, 5.5

18. Hull, Yorkshire and Humberside, 5.6

19. Inverness, Scotland, 5.8

20. Derby, East Midlands, 5.9

Here are the top 20 least affordable cities in the UK, with the average house price-to-earnings ratio, according to Lloyds Bank:

1. Oxford, South East, 12.6

2. Chichester, South East, 11.5

3. Winchester, South East, 11.3

4. Truro, South West, 11.1

=5. London, 10.3

=5. Bath, South West, 10.3

=5. Cambridge, East Anglia, 10.3

8. Southampton, South East, 9.7

9. Brighton and Hove, South East, 9.6

10. Chelmsford, South East, 9.3

=11. Bristol, South West, 9.1

=11. Exeter, South West, 9.1

13. Leicester, East Midlands, 8.6

14. Salisbury, South West, 8.3

15. Norwich, East Anglia, 8.2

16. York, Yorkshire and Humberside, 8.0

17. Ely, East Anglia, 7.9

=18. Canterbury, South East, 7.8

=18. St Albans, South East, 7.8

20. Worcester, West Midlands, 7.7