CITY living is at its least affordable levels for home buyers since 2007, a report suggests.

However, those looking to get onto the housing ladder in the district have more chance than most in the rest of the country after Bradford was named fourth most affordable city using a house price-to-earnings ratio.

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.

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

Lloyds found Oxford to be the least affordable city in the study, with average house prices standing at more than 12-and-a-half times earnings in the city.

Londonderry in Northern Ireland and Stirling in Scotland were found to be the most affordable cities, with properties standing at just under four-and-a-half times average earnings.

Bradford came in at fourth most affordable at just over four-and-a-half times (4.6) average earnings.

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

He continued: "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:

Joint 1st at 4.4 - Londonderry, Northern Ireland, and Stirling, Scotland.

3. Newry, Northern Ireland, 4.5

4. Bradford, 4.6

5. Lancaster, 4.7

Joint 6th Belfast, 5.0 and Aberdeen, 5.0

Joint 8th Perth, 5.1 and Hereford, 5.1

10. Sunderland, North East, 5.2

11. Carlisle, North West, 5.3

Joint 12th Liverpool, 5.4 and Dundee, 5.4

Joint 14th at 5.5 Swansea, Glasgow, Stoke-on-Trent and Durham.

18. Hull, 5.6

19. Inverness, 5.8

20. Derby, 5.9

The top 20 least affordable according to Lloyds were:

1. Oxford, 12.6

2. Chichester, 11.5

3. Winchester,11.3

4. Truro, South West, 11.1

Joint 5th on 10.3 - London, Bath, and Cambridge.

8. Southampton, South East, 9.7

9. Brighton and Hove, South East, 9.6

10. Chelmsford, South East, 9.3

Joint 11th Bristol, 9.1 and Exeter, 9.1

13. Leicester, 8.6

14. Salisbury, 8.3

15. Norwich, 8.2

16. York, 8.0

17. Ely, 7.9

Joint 18th on 7.8 - Canterbury and St Albans.

20. Worcester, 7.7