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Bristol and Manchester had the fastest house price growth last year, rising 9.6% and 8.9% respectively.

According to Hometrack, this was the highest rate of growth in Manchester for over a decade – since 2005.

Other cities where house prices rose sharply were Oxford (8.1%), Portsmouth (8%), Southampton (7.9%) and Birmingham (7.5%).

All out-performed London which saw house price growth of 7.3% during 2016.

London, however, remained by far the UK’s most expensive city with an average price of £484,800.

The cheapest cities were Glasgow (£115,100) and Liverpool (£116,000) but even they recorded house price growth of 4.9% and 7% respectively last year.

Cambridge’s house price rise of 2.7% looked muted in comparison, and included a fall of 0.3% in the last quarter of last year. Even so, it remained one of the priciest cities in the UK with an average price of £421,000.