WESTBURY was the cheapest town to live in west Wiltshire but prices there have risen over the last six months and now the average price of a property is £179,017, just below the national average.

You can still buy a flat in the town for under £100,000, and a terraced property costs an average of £130,960, while you can expect to pay around £156,000 for a semi-detached house.

There are lots of new developments in and around Westbury featuring large modern homes, which may explain why the average house prices in the town have been rising steadily for the last five years and as further development is planned they may continue to rise.

Westbury is particularly popular with first-time buyers as it still has many affordable properties, enabling them to get a foot on the ladder. Prices in Westbury are now a lot closer to the national average than they were at the end of 2001.

The buy-to-let market is strong as the town is popular with young single people looking for a one or two-bed property to rent. Average rents for a one-bedroom house in Westbury are £460pcm according to Nigel Gaffney of WSB Property Management Ltd.