Canterbury has become the fastest city in the UK for homeowners to sell their house.

Figures show properties remain on the market for an average of just 28 days before being snapped up by eager buyers - quicker even than London.

The startling statistics, released by comparethemarket.com, come as a little surprise to Martin Jordan, the manager of Humberts Estate Agents in Castle Street.

“I can see why Canterbury comes higher on the list than anywhere else,” he said.

“We recently had a client who works in Canary Wharf and had sold her house in Wimbledown.

“She wanted to live in Canterbury as it would result in her having a faster journey to London every day - her commute door-to-door is now quicker than when she was actually living in London.”

According to the figures, Peterborough and Coventry are the closest contenders to Canterbury’s speediness, with homes being sold within 35 days.

The average length of time a house in Canterbury is owned by one person is 7.1 years.

Mr Jordan, an estate agent with 31 years’ experience, added: “When I first started on the job, properties in Winchester, which is a historical city like Canterbury, were about two-and-a-half times more expensive.

"Living in Canterbury is a very viable option for commuters and people can enjoy living in the green space as well" - Martin Jordan

“The trains to London from here were slow.

“But now, living in Canterbury is a very viable option for commuters and people can enjoy living in the green space as well.

“Obviously students also play a big role in this.

“They now want a house with a driveway for their car, for example.

“Their parents might then decide to purchase a house for the three years knowing that they’ll see healthy capital gain over that time.

“The key to selling a house fast is getting the price right the first time around.

“As a business we are up on last year with more sales.

"Generally for us it takes about six weeks to sell but I can agree with the average figure being 28 days.”