Terrace and semi-detached homes were the most popular types of property among buyers in 2016, according to Halifax.

Using its own data, the lender says six in ten home sales during 2016 were either terrace or semi-detached.

At an average price of £215,690, Halifax says terrace homes are the most affordable property type in the UK, followed by semi-detached at £225,070 and then flats at £243,936. Outside London, however, flats were the most affordable in 2016 at £167,144, followed by terrace homes at £185,116.

However, when it comes to price growth, the lender says flats are the top performer.

Using its own house price index, Halifax found that prices of flats have grown by 53% in the past seven years to £243,936 compared with growth of 39% for all property types to £248,178.

Martin Ellis, Halifax housing economist, said: “Nationally, terrace and semi-detached homes are the most affordable and popular homes with buyers, accounting for 60% of sales during 2016.

“However, average price growth for flats, helped by the London market, have outperformed all other property types since 2009.

“There has been an increasing trend for first-time buyers to choose semi-detached homes over the past seven years, whilst terrace homes have shown a decline in popularity. The rise in the age of a typical first-time buyer may partly account for this change in preference towards the family-friendly semi.”