Four Scottish cities – Edinburgh, Dundee, Aberdeen and Glasgow – made it onto the top ten places where it’s hardest to leave your first property, according to data from Placebuzz.com.

With the average salary in Edinburgh at around £31,040, that extra cost to step up is 581 per cent more than the average wage.

Swansea emerged as the most affordable city in the country and in the East, Norwich and Ipswich were next in the top three most affordable locations to be a second stepper.

The average percentage price difference between a terraced/semi-detached house compared to a flat in Norwich and Ipswich is 18.4 per cent and 19.5 per cent respectively.

The problem of second stepping has forced couples across the UK to stay in their first properties, which are often flats, much longer than they would like, said Placebuzz.com.

Predictably, London is the least affordable city across the country with couples having to find an extra £463,580 to move from first to second home. That’s 1,079 per cent of the annual average central London salary of £42,970, explaining the continuing rise of the commuter.

Andy Hatoum, co-founder of Placebuzz.com, said: “The second step is the often the hardest step to take on the property ladder. But it’s also the most important for many couples, as this is the property they stay in for years to raise a family. It’s not just the price differential between a flat and a house, there’s also the additional costs of purchase such as stamp duty, extra mortgage and furnishing costs that need to be met.”