Reports from the BBC at the weekend revealed the results from a study undergone by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) investigating housing and poverty. And St Albans has come out on top.

Housing in St Albans is the most expensive in England and Wales, with an average detached home costing £675,000 or £529,400 for a semi-detached. An average terraced house goes for £400,000 and a flat for £255,000, making the overall average £390,000.

This beats London by £10k, the average property there being £380,000.

The study by the ONS also revealed 29 out of 45 towns and cities in southern England had an average house price of more than £200,000, compared with only three out of 64 in the North and the Midlands. House prices have risen the most in Cambridge since 2010, increasing 47 per cent. Swansea saw prices decrease 4 per cent over the same period.

St Albans has also so well in the depravity stakes!

It’s come in third place on the least deprived list, pipped to the post by Guildford and Woking in first and second place respectively. Evidently, 47.8 per cent of the area classed as St Albans is among the least deprived.

The study considered factors such as income, employment, health, education, skills and training and crime. It also looked at disability, access to housing and the built environment in cities and towns in England and Wales.

The north-west of England had five of the ten most deprived towns and cities, while the West Midlands had three of the top five. The data revealed that while Oldham was the most deprived overall, West Bromwich came off the worst for employment and income.