The cheapest places in England to buy a home on one salary

Why one salary goes further in some areas

Crucially, the towns at the top of the list do not require a high earner, they are within reach of the average local wage packet.

Burnley, in the North West, is the most affordable.

Median pay in the town is £29,680 against an average house price of £129,556, which means a 10 per cent deposit of £12,956 and a mortgage of £116,600.

Hartlepool comes second, where a typical house costs £129,129 and a buyer would need to earn at least £28,830, putting down £12,913.

Those deposits are not trivial sums, but they are a fraction of what first-time buyers face nationally.

In 2024 the average first-time buyer deposit sat at around 20 per cent, reaching £61,090 for a £311,034 home, close to five times the outlay needed in Burnley.

It is the gap between local wages and local prices, rather than wages alone, that decides whether one salary is enough.

"If you don't have a beau to split everything with, it's not a completely lost cause," said Eleanor Noyce, Metro Lifestyle.

For single buyers weighing up their options, the arithmetic is worth running before writing off a purchase, as is checking what help is available, from the zero-deposit mortgage deal that drew Martin Lewis's attention to the money families may be owed by HMRC.