Cheapest UK city for first-time buyers revealed — but it’s ‘bleak’ for some

If you want to get on the property ladder as a first-time buyer, Cambridgeshire is the place to be.

No, not the classic university city characterised by cobbled streets, bicycles and punting on the water: its less charming sister just over 40 miles away.

Yes, dear reader, it’s Peterborough. It might be constantly slated for being ‘bleak’, but according to new research, it’s the most hope first-time buyers have of acquiring their own four walls.

Assessing house prices, living costs and salary expectations, the data, from St Modwen Homes, gave Peterborough the number one spot with a perfect score of 10.

Here, the average house price comes in at £255,083, but that’s not all it’s got going for it economy-wise.

A three-course meal for two comes in at £47.50, while a fitness club membership costs just over £28 per month – all compared with an average salary of £30,000.

By comparison, Derby took second place with a typical house price of £234,120, alongside an average one-way public transport ticket of £2 and lower petrol prices than other UK cities at £1.42 per litre.  

Notable mentions also went to Preston, Stoke-on-Trent and Plymouth, with house prices of £178,247, £169,366 and £243,465 respectively.

But naturally, not everyone’s enamoured with this Cambridgeshire city – in spite of its impressive cathedral and expansive countryside.

‘Peterborough is woeful. A cultural wasteland,’ a scornful summary from Reddit user @Robw_1973 read, describing it as a ‘mish-mash’ of ‘vape, nail and chicken shops.’

‘It would improve 100% if it was bulldozed and left as a pile of rubble,’ the post added, while @branty36 described it as ‘the place dreams go to die.’

Elsewhere though, there are a few Peterborough fans, as @BakerMaker11 wondered why it gets ‘so much hate.’

‘People in the pubs seem friendly, lots of local character to the city and the cathedral is amazing,’ they penned, praising the city’s ‘beautiful Victorian architecture’ just outside the centre.

‘Peterborough has the potential to be a fantastic thriving city it just seems to fall a bit short and people always wanna bash it,’ @slophiewal agreed.

And while it might not have ‘as much character’ as other destinations, @CrispsForBreakfast holds up hope that in 10 years’ time, ‘it might actually be a decent place to live.’

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