The West Yorkshire city tops the list in terms of house price affordability and the cost of mortgage repayments.
Here, Which? reveals four other cheap cities for first-time-buyers and what it's like to live there plus what's happening to first-time buyer mortgage rates.
Cheapest cities for first-time buyers
Cities in northern regions and Scotland are much cheaper compared with those in the south.
Bradford just pipped Carlisle to take the top spot, with the average asking price coming in at £104,643.
The research was based on assumptions first-time buyers had a 10% deposit and would be paying back their mortgage over 25 years.
The average asking prices are for typical home sizes bought by first-time buyers, with a maximum of two bedrooms.
Could you live in the cheapest cities?
Bradford
The fifth largest local authority in England in terms of population, Bradford is home to 547,000 people. It has one of the youngest populations in the country, with almost a quarter of residents aged 16 or under.
The city, which boasts impressive Victorian architecture, is undergoing large-scale regeneration projects and will be the City of Culture in 2025.
It ranked 10th in the UK's housing transaction tables in 2022, according to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). In total, 3,501 homes were sold.
Carlisle
Just eight miles from the Scottish border, Carlisle is the urban hub of Cumbria - one of the UK's most sparsely populated counties.
Away from the historic centre - which boasts a castle, cathedral and city walls - Carlisle is surrounded by natural beauty, with the nearby Lake District, Pennines, Northumberland National Park and the Solway Estuary offering countryside escapes.
Last year, 1,198 homes were sold in the city. A total of 2,400 new-builds have been completed in the past five years, putting it 158th in a list of local authorities.
The city has a population of 110,000 people. Its growth rate over the last decade (2.3%) is almost three times lower than the England average.
Aberdeen
Aberdeen, which has a population of 227,000, is Scotland's third largest city. It is the northernmost major city in the UK.
It ranks 31st in terms of housebuilding over the past five years, with 5,950 homes being completed.
It boasts a long, sandy coastline and has one of the oldest universities in the English-speaking world. Dubbed the Granite City due to its distinctive architecture, Aberdeen is known for its scenic allure and multi-award-winning parks and gardens.
Hull
Hull, in Yorkshire, has a population of 267,100. It ranked 11th in terms of housing transactions last year, with 3,294 property transactions going through.
The arts and cultural sector has grown significantly in recent years, with the former City of Culture boasting festivals, galleries and theatres aplenty.
Hull, which was the most heavily bombed UK city after London in the Second World War, has a rich maritime history and is one of England’s most important port cities.
Dundee
Scotland's fourth largest city, Dundee has the welcome accolade of being the country's 'sunniest' thanks to average annual hours of sun.
The compact city is situated on the Tay estuary . In 2018, the first Victoria and Albert museum outside of London opened at the redeveloped waterfront complex, which is undergoing a £1.6 billion regeneration.
Over the past five years, 1,740 homes have been built around the city. It has a population of 147,720.
Most expensive cities for first-time buyers
At the other end of the spectrum, London prices unsurprisingly dwarf the rest of the UK, making it the most expensive place for first-time buyers.
Away from the capital, St Albans in Hertfordshire is almost £40,000 more expensive than Bath in third place.
Buying vs renting
For those who are able to save a 10% deposit when buying, Rightmove's data shows it’s cheaper to pay a monthly mortgage on a two-bed home than rent in half of cities.
This increases to two-thirds of cities if first-time buyers can save up a 15% deposit.
First-time buyers in Glasgow make the biggest savings by getting on the ladder, with the average monthly mortgage payment for a first home being £215 per month cheaper than the average rent asked for in the city.
Commenting on the statistics, Rightmove property expert Tim Bannister said: 'For those who are able to save up the deposit, it’s still cheaper to pay off a mortgage as a first-time buyer in many areas than pay the equivalent in monthly rent, despite prices reaching a new record at a national level and mortgage rates rising.
'It highlights how frenetic the rental market has been for a long time now, with many areas continuing to see record rents and fierce competition between tenants for the properties available.'
Find out more:What's happening to first-time buyer mortgages?
The price gap shows the incentive for first-time buyers to build up their deposits, as doing so will result in cheaper interest rates.
There are now more than 900 fixed and variable rate deals available to buyers with small deposits, according to Moneyfacts.
Find out more:Advice on buying a home in 2023
If you're hoping to get on to the property ladder this year, we're here to help.
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