Greenwich house price rises are highest in the UK

The research, based on house price data from Halifax, found that prices in Greenwich have lifted by 24.6 per cent year on year to reach £328,044 in 2014.

This is almost double the rate of growth across London as a whole, where property prices have increased by 13 per cent annually.

Critics warn that soaring house prices in the capital, coupled with a lack of new affordable homes, mean many people are being priced out of the city.

Nine out of 10 areas which have seen the strongest price growth over the last year are dotted across London. They included Ealing, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Brent, Southwark and Hackney.

Crawley in West Sussex was the only place outside London to make the top 10, with prices there rising by 22.4 per cent over the last year.

Outside southern England, property values in Sheffield have seen the strongest annual uplift, with a 13.7 per cent increase pushing the average price to £148,372.

Swindon was the South West region of England's strongest price performer. Property values there have increased by 9.5 per cent annually to reach £178,826 typically.

The towns with the biggest average falls in house prices between 2013 and 2014 were all outside southern England and four out of the 10 weakest-performing towns were in north west England.

Here are the towns which have seen the biggest average increase in house prices year-on-year, with the average property value in 2014 and the annual increase:

1. Greenwich, London, £328,044, 24.6%

2. Ealing, London, £455,543, 24.5%

3. Crawley, South East, £267,925, 22.4%

4. Tower Hamlets, London, £424,163, 22.0%

5. Kingston upon Thames, London, £460,853, 21.4%

6. Sutton, London, £326,565, 20.7%

7. Waltham Forest, London, £331,080, 20.4%

8. Brent, London, £443,902, 20.1%

9. Southwark, London, £450,277, 19.8%

10. Hackney, London, £467,945, 19.6%

(UK average, £209,428, 8.5%)