HOUSE prices in parts of North Yorkshire now average around a quarter of a million pounds – more than ten times local average salaries.

A report by the National Housing Federation (NHF) has revealed that people need to be earning at least £38,000 in order to afford a typical mortgage in Yorkshire. The least affordable place to live in Yorkshire is Harrogate, where the average house price is £276,700 – more than eleven times the average £24,730 salary.

The second most expensive place to live in North Yorkshire is Hambleton, where the average house price has now reached £243,000; more than ten times the average salary.

According to the federation, whilst the North-East has some of the most affordable areas to live in the country, the average earner in the region still needs an £11,000 pay rise in order to afford a home.

The most expensive area of the North-East to live is Newcastle, where the average property has reached £174,700.

County Durham had the most affordable homes; at £127,100 they are five times the average salary for the county. In Hartlepool house prices average £130,000.

Monica Burns, external affairs manager for National Housing Federation members in the North-East said affordability was still a major problem. She said unemployment was increasing in the region, compounding the problem. In Redcar unemployment stands at 9.4 per cent, well above the national average of 6.2 per cent and in Middlesbrough it is 12.5 per cent.

“It is against this backdrop that people in the North-East are struggling to afford the costs of keeping a roof over their heads and it’s not just those who are out of work,” she said.

“Working people aren’t earning enough to cover the cost of renting from the private sector without the help of housing benefit. In Newcastle, 18.2 per cent of housing benefit claimants are actually in employment.”

People renting from the private market are also feeling the strain on their household budget. The average rent in Yorkshire is £535 a month.

Jo Allen, external affairs manager for the NHF in Yorkshire said in some areas people were “completely priced out of their local communities”.

She said: “The country is in the midst of a housing crisis that has been a generation in the making and Yorkshire and the Humber has certainly not been immune to this. We are seeing divided markets in the region, with strong confident cities needing a housing offer which matches their growth ambition.”

Leader of Hambleton District Council, Mark Robson, said the council was trying to address the problem through its planning department, but affordability was likely to continue to be an issue over the coming years.

“We’ve gone through a recession where people weren’t developing or building anything, but we now have developments coming forward to try and get people on the housing ladder.”