IT is known across the world as the home of golf.

Now St Andrews has also become the home to the most expensive residential street in Scotland with an average property price of more than £2.1 million.

Researchers from the Bank of Scotland say the cliff top street The Scores, which starts at the first tee of the Old Course, has knocked addresses in Edinburgh off the top spot for the first time in their annual survey.

Lined with Victorian detached and terraced houses, the street has unrivalled views of St Andrews Bay and the North Sea.

It is named after scratches on the basalt cliff face which it overlooks.

It is also home to the St Andrews University principal and the pub Ma Bell’s – said to be Prince William’s favourite when he was a student in the town – and the university’s own museum.

The street took top spot in the annual list in a year that saw an unusually high number of desirable properties being sold, mainly to wealthy business people as an investment.

But although the home of golf clinched the most expensive road accolade, 10 of Scotland’s most expensive streets are in Edinburgh.

Aberdeen has five streets in the top 20, while Glasgow has three.

Balmoral Court in Auchterarder, Perthshire, is the only other location in the top 20 outside the main cities. House prices on the Gleneagles Hotel estate average £1,298,000 .

Edinburgh’s most expensive residential street is Ettrick Road in Merchiston with an average price of £1,899,000. At more than £500,000 less, Northumberland Street and Heriot Row in New Town are Edinburgh’s next most expensive streets, with average prices of £1,390,000 and £1,374,000 respectively.

In Aberdeen, streets in the AB15 postcode area are the most expensive. Researchers said buyers seeking a property in Rubislaw Den North or Rubislaw Den South should expect to spend at least £1,516,000.

Baroness Drive in Thortonhall is Glasgow’s most expensive street (£1,037,000), closely followed by nearby Baron Court (£1,035,000), and Grange Road in Bearsden (£1,033,000).

Graham Blair, Bank of Scotland mortgage director, said: “Whilst Edinburgh normally has the ‘X factor’ when it comes to the nation’s most desirable addresses, this year’s surprise is The Scores in St Andrews taking the top spot as Scotland’s most expensive street. With Edinburgh being Scotland’s financial and political hub, it’s little surprise that it still dominates the most expensive streets table. Aberdeen retains a strong presence and the number of expensive streets has almost doubled compared to last year.“While the capital and the Granite City dominate this survey, it is interesting to note that In all 20 most expensive streets the average house price is at least £1m.”