A TOWN in the district has been crowed the most up-and-coming property hotspot in the North-East.

Hexham took the top spot after analysis of more than 600 UK locations based on house price increases, quality of schools and increases in people searching for a move to the area, as well as distance to an independent shopping scene, low crime rates and good pubs.

The market town has seen a 6 per cent increase in house prices since 2018 and scored highly against other popular places in the North-East including Berwick-upon-Tweed, Durham, Sedgefield and Gateshead.

Gower, Swansea, has been named the most up-and-coming place to live across the whole of the UK, followed by Wigan and Central Manchester according to the study by property website Boomin.

Michael Bruce, group CEO and founder of Boomin, commented: “At Boomin, we want to empower our customers to ‘get there first’ and find what really is their dream home. A huge aspect of this is finding the right area to live in before things get too competitive, so we wanted to go beyond just house price increases as an indicator of how ‘sought after’ an area is, and look at what the modern home owner really wants.

"Taking into account everything from proximity to schools and crime rates, to how many restaurant options there are in the area, has allowed us to shine a light on the places people might not have been considering but could be just what they’re looking for.

"Be it Gower, Wigan or Romford, we’re excited to help people find the home that’s right for them”.

A newly launched Boomin property portal offers MatchMaker - a tool that enables users to connect with homeowners who aren’t yet on the market.

All research was carried out by Boomin (https://www.boomin.com/property-news/up-and-coming-property-hotspots-2021)