HEREFORD has been rated as England’s 10th most affordable city to buy a house – with the average house price coming in at just under five times the average local salary.

However times may be changing – Hereford is now noticeably less affordable now than it was 10 years ago.

While the numbers may surprise some, the study – conducted by Lloyds Bank – shows Hereford come in at 16th on a UK top-20 most affordable list dominated by Scottish and northern cities.

In fact only Swansea (17) is located further south than Hereford.

To get on the property ladder in Hereford in 2014, the average house costs £194, 024, compared to £184,215 in 2004.

However while an average house price decline in some parts of the United Kingdom has seen property become more affordable, the same doesn’t appear to be the case in Hereford.

The ratio between average annual earnings and average house price has gone up from 4.58 to 4.78 since 2004 – or the equivalent of around a third of a year’s salary.

If you’re looking at moving, top of the most affordable list nationwide was Stirling in Scotland, while the least affordable was Oxford.