Eight of the top 10 wealthiest places in England are in the north of the country, with Tatton in Cheshire, home to David and Victoria Beckham, the wealthiest area in terms of disposable income, research revealed yesterday. Barclays Private Clients looked at average salaries and the cost of living across England and Wales to establish the actual value of disposable income in a region. Under the measure the average salary of £29,303 in Tatton is worth £41,506, once the cost of living is taken into account. Hallam in Sheffield emerged as the second wealthiest place in real terms, with an average salary of £29,150 worth £41,289, while Kensington and Chelsea, which has the highest average salary in the country of £40,951, came third. Overall, eight of the top 10 wealthiest regions in real terms were in the north of England, with only Kensington and Chelsea and Warwick and Leamington outside the area. Of the top 50 wealthiest areas, 12 are in the north-west, seven are in Yorkshire, six are in the West Midlands and five are in the East Midlands. Just four are in London, while three are in the south-east Barclays said its previous research had focused on income as the primary measure of wealth, which unsurprisingly showed that the major concentrations of wealth were in London and the south-east. But income was not the only factor which determined how wealthy an individual felt, and when the cost of living is factored in, the "wealth map" changed dramatically. It said much of the difference was probably due to housing costs, which take up a higher proportion of income for people living in the south-east than those in northern regions, giving northerners greater real disposable income. Gordon Rankin, marketing director of Barclays Private Clients, said the difference "could well be a major factor behind the changes we are currently witnessing in the housing market. Housing costs in London and the south-east are levelling off and even falling in some areas."