HOUSE prices in parts of the north west are rising five times as fast as in London, new figures reveal.

Towns in Lancashire and Derbyshire are in a top 10 of property hot spots where the value of homes has risen by up to 59 per cent in a year.

Blackburn is fourth in the list with a 51 per cent increase in 12 months.

The north west has already been named the region with the highest house-price inflation in the first quarter of 2004, at 9.7 per cent.

Prices in Wales are up 36 per cent.

The property gap between the north and south is at its lowest for five years and is tipped by experts to narrow still further as regional economies boom.

The new list has been drawn up by the Halifax, Britain's biggest mortgage lender, and is dominated by towns in the north.

Hartlepool in Cleveland tops the list, with a 59 per cent rise compared to the first quarter of 2003.Chesterfield is ninth at 40 per cent.

The London average was just nine per cent, and that for the south east fell from 26 per cent to seven per cent.

Despite the rising cost of buying a home, figures from the Inland Revenue show the number of property transactions has continued to grow.

There were also falls in the annual rate of increase in East Anglia, the South West, the West Midlands and the East Midlands.

Halifax chief economist Martin Ellis said: "We expect the gap between the north and south to narrow further during the remainder of 2004, although house price inflation in many areas outside the south is likely to slow."

Tweet