Scotland is the most affordable part of the UK to buy a house, a new study has revealed.

Mortgage payments here are just 20% of take-home pay for new borrowers, according to the Bank of Scotland.

This compared favourably to the UK-wide average of 26%, adding up to good news for first-time buyers and home movers taking out a new loan.

Typical mortgage payments in Scotland as a proportion of earnings have fallen from 37 per cent in autumn 2007.

Neil Harrison of the Edinburgh Solicitors' Property Centre said the change was down to salary levels staying constant while house prices dropped, as well as banks being stricter about lending.

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He told the Scotsman newspaper: "The days of someone taking out a relatively unaffordable mortgage are over, and that has helped bring this rate down. Historically, house prices in Scotland have been lower than elsewhere, and while prices are down from their peak while there hasn’t been a corresponding drop in salary levels."

Nitish Patel, housing economist for Bank of Scotland, said: "Lower house prices and reduced mortgage rates have led to a significant improvement in housing affordability for those able to fund the necessary deposit to enter the market over the past five years. As a result, mortgage payments for a typical new borrower currently account for the lowest proportion of earnings for ten years."

(NE)