FIRST-TIME buyers hoping to get on to the property ladder in Bournemouth need a household income of £62,300.

The figure has increased by a whopping 13 per cent in the last three years, making it one of the most expensive areas in the UK.

The average salary in the town is just over £24,000 meaning that more than two salaries could be needed to buy a home.

Figures released by Zoopla show the wide variation of prices ranging from £26,100 in Liverpool to £84,000 in London.

Across the towns and cities looked at, the average income needed has increased by more than £4,500 over the past three years, Zoopla said.

But there was slight relief for those trying to buy in London - the average household income needed is £3,250 less than in 2016, following three years of weak growth and small price falls in the capital.

The research made several assumptions, including that 30 per cent of a household’s take-home income is spent on mortgage costs, and that buyers borrow no more than four times their income.

The analysis expected that buyers would have a 15 per deposit to put down, increasing to 25 per cent in the more expensive cities of London, Oxford and Cambridge.

Average mortgage rates were used to calculate repayments over a 30-year term.

Adrian Dunford of Tailor Made estate agents in Bournemouth said: “It is clear that our starting price is higher than other places but if people are willing to pay it then the sellers are going to continually increase the price.”

He said buyers are currently borrowing more because interest rates are low and added: “We are seeing a lot more development in this area but it takes a long time. A lot more developers are focusing on that end of the market.”

Outside London, university cities Cambridge and Oxford require the highest first-time buyer incomes, although like London these have also fallen over the past three years.

Richard Donnell, research and insight director at Zoopla said: “First-time buyers are an important group accounting for more than one in three sales.

“While the average household income to buy a typical home across UK cities has grown nine per cent since 2016, weaker price growth and recent price falls have led to a five per cent reduction in the income to buy across the most expensive cities.

In Southampton, first time buyers need a household income of £48,500 with £50,700 needed to buy a property in Portsmouth.