PEOPLE on average earnings are being priced out of the housing market in all 63 districts of the South East according to a new report by the GMB union.

In the South East as a whole, the average house price in July 2016 was £313,315 which is 10.4 times the average full time earnings of £30,074.

However, the ratio is even more exaggerated in Waverley, where the average house price of £455,113 is 12.1 times the borough’s £37,557 median full time earnings.

House prices are also, on average, 12.1 times the average annual salary in neighbouring East Hampshire, while in Guildford the ratio rises to 12.8.

The largest discrepancy in the South East is claimed by South Bucks where average house prices are 18.5 times average earnings, followed by 15.9x in Elmbridge, 15.3x in Mole Valley, 14.1x in Tandridge and 13.7x in Sevenoaks.

The most affordable boroughs for home-buyers are Gosport (7x), Portsmouth (7.3x), Hastings (7.5x), Southampton (7.7x) and Medway (7.7).

A ratio of 4.5 times a borrower’s income is regarded as the maximum that banks and building societies will lend.

House prices are, according to the GMB, also rising at a much faster pace than earnings - with the house price to earnings ratio now 7.8 on average across the UK. Average house prices in the South East increased by 11.9 per cent in the year to July 2016.

Paul Maloney, GMB regional secretary, said: "These figures show that a massive programme to build more houses, especially houses for rent, by the Local Authorities is absolutely essential in all parts of the South East and has to get underway without delay.

“We have been talking about this problem for far too long, there can be no excuses for not providing housing to people that they can afford to live in on average wages.”