Oldham named 'most deprived town in England'

The Greater Manchester town of Oldham has been named the most deprived town in England by the Office for National Statistic (ONS). In the latest study by the ONS into housing, house prices and poverty, Guildford, in Surrey, was the least deprived.

The official study found that Oldham contained the highest proportion of deprived areas with West Bromwich second and Liverpool third. After Guildford, Woking and St Albans were all found to have the highest proportion of the least deprived areas.

The data considered several factors including income, employment, health, education, skills and training and crime. Researchers also looked at disability in the area, ease of access to housing and the built environment nearby.

Towns and cities in the north-west of England accounted for five of the top ten most deprived areas , whilst the West Midlands had three places in the top five. Oldham was the most deprived overall, while West Bromwich was worst for employment and income and the second lowest for education.

The ONS also looked at house prices and figures that signalled 29 out of 45 towns and cities in the south of England had an average house price of more than £200,000. This is in comparison to only three out of 64 places in the North and Midlands.

The highest house price increase in the last five years was in Cambridge, where house prices have sky-rocketed, on average, 47 per cent since 2011. At the other end of the scale, Swansea saw prices decrease 4 per cent over the same period.

According to the ONS, the cheapest homes can be bought in Burnley, Lancashire, where a detached house goes for an average of £166,000 and a semi-detached home goes for around £120,000.

The Hertfordshire town of St Albans usurped both London and Cambridge for the most expensive housing, with an average detached home costing £675,000 or £529,400 for a semi-detached.

Defending the area where he works, Oldham councillor Eddie Moores, said to the BBC: "In the last five years we've worked hard to improve health, wages, skills and employment opportunities. We've also invested in the borough's biggest post war regeneration programme so that people can benefit from a growing economy and get more opportunities to succeed."