Hollyoaks is Chester's very own soap opera, but how many characters could actually afford to buy their on-screen home in the city's fictional suburb?

Well according to research by national online estate agent urban.co.uk, only one earns enough to be in a position to secure a mortgage to cover the current estimated value of the place he calls home.

And that lucky climber of the property ladder is schoolteacher Louis Loveday.

The deputy head of Hollyoaks High could borrow £193,200 based on his salary to purchase his flat, which is currently estimated at £195,850.

While the vast majority of the Hollyoaks line-up would only be able to rent their homes.

The same goes for most characters in Eastenders, Coronation Street and Emmerdale.

Indeed, according to the data, all Emmerdale residents earn far less than needed to buy a property in Esholt, the Yorkshire village where the ITV soap is set.

Life on the cobbles isn’t much more affordable - even Kevin Webster, car mechanic and the street’s highest earner, can't afford to purchase his modest two-bedroom terraced house in Salford.

Adam Male, founder of urban.co.uk, comments: “As a nation we love to follow the turbulent lives of our favourite soap characters, from highly emotional love stories to complicated revenge plots – it’s all about escaping into another world.

"Our research shows just how far from reality the lives of these characters actually are, with hardly anyone able to afford their homes in real life."

So it's probably fair to say we won't see our favourite Hollyoaks characters upping sticks and moving into the luxury apartments at council HQ , which are the most expensive flats sold in Chester since 2010, any time soon.