GWENT is home to some of the cheapest places to buy a house in the UK - and one of the most expensive in Wales, writes Emily Withers.

New figures revealed in a study by mortgage comparison site Bankrate have shown properties in New Tredegar cost on average just £68 per sq ft - making the fourth cheapest place in the UK to buy a house.

Only Tighnabruaich, in Argyllshire, Scotland, Ferndale, in Rhondda Cynon Taf, and Middlesbrough are cheaper. Property in Middlesbrough costs on average just £44 per sq ft.

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Elsewhere in Gwent, Abertillery has ranked as 12th cheapest in the UK, at £76 per sq ft.

The average house price in the UK as a whole is £220,700 - but in the region of Blaenau Gwent it is just £105,798.

In comparison, Monmouthshire is the most expensive region in the whole of Wales, with houses costing on average £217 per square foot.

The figures were revealed in a study by mortgage broker Bankrate.

Sarah Guershon, mortgage expert at the company said: "You can get an awful lot for your money in Blaenau Gwent.

"If you were to pay the UK national average house price of £232,000, you could get 1,862 sq ft.

"Paying the local average house price of £110,000, however, would get you 883 sq ft.

"Either way, you’d have plenty of room to swing a cat.

"House values in Blaenau Gwent have increased by around three per cent over the past 12 months, something we’d normally predict to continue at a similar rate into 2020.

"But with Brexit making the housing market so unpredictable, it’s hard to say what things will look like in the next 12 months."