Barnet tops the list, with properties in the London suburb earning a massive £52,000 more than their owners – that’s £2,177 a month more.

The next biggest gap is in North Hertfordshire in the East of England (£40,903), the only place outside London and the South East also feature in the top 10, according to the Halifax research.

However, Halifax also found that the proportion of areas where house prices are outpacing earnings has fallen, from 31% in 2016 to 18% in 2017, or from 119 areas to 71.

Russell Galley, managing director at the lender, said: “Over the past two years, we have seen house price growth and earnings converge at a national level, leading to a drop in the total number of areas where the average house price rise is greater than owners’ take-home earnings.

“Despite the slowdown in house price growth in southern England, it has still outpaced wages across most of the region. This means that middle earners are also facing a challenge getting on to the property ladder.”

North/South divide

The research also highlighted a continuing North / South divide, with 86% of areas where the average house price rise is greater than local median earnings over the last two years in London, the South East, South West or East of England.

The top performers outside southern England include Harborough in the East Midlands, with house price gains £19,662 more than earnings over 2016 and 2017 (£73,916 v £54,254).

Elsewhere, Ribble Valley in the North West (£8,217), Tamworth in the West Midlands (£3,226) and Denbighshire in Wales (£793) all saw house prices outperform wages.