Economic, demographic and housing market trends are triggering a change in home ownership in the UK, and as a result mortgage borrowing in older age is likely to move from niche to mainstream within the next decade.

One possible area of concern for people buying a new house is whether they will get on with their new neighbours.

Bank of Scotland has calculated that by 14th March, new borrowers had earned enough to cover the annual cost of their mortgage repayments.

The average price of a property in Scotland in December 2016 was £141,553, according to the latest UK House Price Index (UK HPI). This is an increase of 3.5% on the previous year and a decrease of 0.2% when compared to the previous month.

House hunters can be a superstitious lot, according to new research, with many saying they would avoid buying a property at number 13 if at all possible.