Where to buy your first home: top schools, the best areas and new homes for first-time buyers in Luton, Bedfordshire

Why first-time buyers are moving to Luton, Bedfordshire

Average first-time buyer spend: £226,170.

Annual price increase: 3.7 per cent.

Proportion of homes sold to first-time buyers: 18 per cent.

The commute: from half an hour to St Pancras International. An annual ticket costs from £4,176.

What’s new? Investment is pouring into new homes in Luton including a £48 million project to build 183 flats with communal roof gardens, granted planning permission last summer and due to complete by next year.

Several estate regeneration projects are on the cards, and Luton Town FC aims to build a new stadium.

The lowdown: follow the River Lea out of east London and you will eventually arrive in Luton, an ancient market town badly bombed during the Second World War and rebuilt with varying degrees of success.

As well as the airport, Luton has a theatre, The Hat Factory arts centre and several museums. It’s close to the Chiltern Hills for country days out, and handy for Woburn Safari Park.

There is a large but rather soulless shopping mall, and a preponderance of chicken shops and charity shops.

Ray Khalid, of Luton Heights estate agents, says London buyers have been discovering the town over the last few years.

“Buyers are picking up on the fact they can be at King’s Cross in half an hour, which is faster than getting across London, and they can buy a three-bedroom house for under £250,000,” he says.

Property ranges from detached executive homes around Parkway station, priced at around £500,000, to three-bedroom Thirties semis in Leagrave for £240,000 to £250,000.

The poshest neighbourhood is Bramingham, north of the town centre. In this ultra-leafy location, a family home with five or six bedrooms would cost between £600,000 and £700,000.

Flightpath noise is an issue for some, particularly to the south-east of Luton, but Ray Khalid says the rest of the town is barely affected.