UK house prices: Oxford, Winchester, London, Cambridge and Bath are top 5 least affordable cities, reveals Lloyds Bank study

Oxford tops the list of least affordable UK cities for purchasing a house, according to a study by Lloyds Bank. At an average price of £364,429 (€462,582, $516,654), houses in Oxford are about 11 times its average annual earnings.

It beats Winchester and London which come second and third respectively. Researchers argue that the average price of a house in London is lower because of the city's outer boroughs, which are far less expensive than the centre. Two other two cities in the top five are Cambridge and Bath.

Lloyds Bank calculates home affordability as the ratio between the average house price and gross local earnings. It was found that overall this was at its worst level in eight years with the number dropping to levels not seen since the height of the last housing boom.

Andrew Mason, Lloyds Bank mortgage products director, said: "House price rises in the past three years have risen more steeply than average wage growth, making it more expensive to buy a home in the majority of UK cities."

The most affordable city is Londonderry. Here, the average house price was £113,302 or about 3.8 times its average salary. Other cities found affordable include Stirling, Bradford, Belfast and Hereford, according to The Independent.

"House prices in the south have generally seen stronger growth than in the north. Winchester has recorded the biggest gains over the past decade, whilst London, not surprisingly, has seen the largest growth during the economic recovery of the last five years," Mason said.