Accrington is one of the ten towns and cities in the country with the slowest house price growth, according to a recent survey.

The town’s average property prices increased by just 1.5 per cent in 2015, 8.6 percentage points less than the national average, according to the data released by Halifax.

It came eighth from bottom in a list of house price growth, with the average Accrington property price rising from £105,890 to £107,529 between 2014 and 2015.

Hyndburn Labour MP Graham Jones said he was not surprised by the figures, and said migration out of the area was a problem.

He explained: “The area has been depopulating over the last decade, despite immigration, and this is due to the economy.

“Young people particularly are migrating, following a university education. This hampers the economy in terms of skills.

“There is also a high percentage of older, low demand, terraced stock in Accrington, which drags the average price increase down.”

Mr Jones said improving employment and jobs is a priority for him and the Labour Party, and that he hopes this will in turn increase house prices.

He said: “If we grow the economy and improve transport links, we have a chance to turn this around.

“You can see from the figures that the increase in house prices is predominantly in London and the South East, where there has been jobs growth in the past 20 years.

“If we are to push house prices up, we’ve got to see an increased economy and the way to do this is better skills, training and jobs, and employers who pay higher wages.”

Report authors Halifax said the economy was responsible for modest house price growth.

Martin Ellis, housing economist, said: “These areas are typically still suffering from relatively weak employment and economic conditions, which has dampened local housing demand.”

Merthyr Tydfil in Wales was at the bottom of the ladder, with house prices falling by 3.8 per cent.

At the other end of the scale, Newham in London came out on top in Halifax’s data, with house prices rising by 22.2pc.

All of the top 10 performers were in London and the South East, but outside this region, Stroud in Gloucestershire fared best, with a 15pc rise in property values.