AN AYRSHIRE town has been named the "cheapest" place to buy a seaside property in the whole of the UK.

It comes after new research was released by property experts GetAgent which revealed the most and least affordable towns across the country.

And according to this data, with an average house price of £114,696, Saltcoats in North Ayrshire is the best place for picking up a bargain home by the sea.

It was one of two locations in Ayrshire, and seven across Scotland, which made the top 20 of the list, with the other being Girvan in South Ayrshire where the average home will cost around £194,003.

Colby Short, CEO and co-founder of GetAgent commented: “Many of us dream about living a quiet life by the sea, enjoying beach walks before work and summery evening swims.

"The UK has so many wonderful coastal towns and villages, so whether you want to live in the south, north, east or west, there’s a seaside town for everyone to enjoy.

"Of course, there are areas of the UK where you’ll pay a pretty penny for getting to live so close to the beach, with some properties in the south of the country fetching millions, however, there are some stunning locations in other parts of the UK with a more affordable average price, especially in the north of England and Scotland.

“So whether you want to relocate to the seaside, or invest in a home by the sea that you can use with your family or rent out to holidaymakers when you’re not using it, there are countless towns to choose from.”

Towns across the county also featured elsewhere in the data produced by GetAgent.

Amongst the 'least expensive' places to buy property in the UK, not taking into account seaside location, was Newmilns in East Ayrshire with average prices below £100,000 making it fifth in the list overall.

Also among the top 20 were Stevenston, which came in at 1-th, and fellow North Ayrshire town Irvine in 15th.

Despite their locations, neither Stevenston or Irvine were included on the seaside list despite their proximity to the coast.