RESEARCH released by the National Housing Federation on Tuesday reveals that the average price of a Forest home is now £210,070 – 10.3 times the average local income of £20,493.

The Federation says its report clearly highlights the growing need for more affordable housing.

The estimated average house price for the whole of Gloucestershire for 2008 (£224,574) stood at 11 times the average (median) individual income (£20,400), with even homes in the lowest quartile costing an average of £140,000.

Broken down by affordability, a county 'league table' looks like this:

• Cotswolds: £332,494 average house price (18.8 x £17,716 average income)

• Tewkesbury: £215,417 average house price (11.8 x £18,216 average income)

• Stroud: £230,569 average house price (10.3 x £22,485 average income)

• Forest of Dean: £210,070 average house price (10.3 x £20,493 average income)

• Cheltenham: £227,290 average house price (10 x £22,792 average income)

• Gloucester: £159,859 average house price (8.5 x £18,808 average income)

"It's not surprising that people are turning to social housing, with over 17,500 households in Gloucestershire on waiting lists – an increase of almost 35 per cent in the last five years," the Federation comments. 

"This situation is exacerbated in rural areas, where younger people are increasingly priced out of the communities in which they grew up or have

families."

In addition, eight of the top 20 locations for second homes are in the south west, more than any other region. These present a significant challenge to the local economy, testing the viability of many local shops and services to breaking point.

The worst affected parts of Gloucestershire are unsurprisingly the Cots­wolds with figures approaching 4 per cent, with Cheltenham next in line with over 1.4 per cent.

The National Housing Federation is calling on the government to:

•Increase public investment to support the building of new high quality social housing

•Make public land available to affordable housing providers at discounted rates

•Compel the nationalised banks to make mortgage funds available for shared ownership

•Ensure local housing authorities assess housing need in all rural areas every three years and publish an action plan to deliver affordable homes.

Garry King, Two Rivers' CEO, said: "As a rural housing provider, Two Rivers is all too familiar with the disparity between the lack of affordable housing to meet the needs of local people in Gloucestershire. 

"Despite house prices falling for a year or more the average house price in Gloucestershire continues to vastly exceed the average income ratio.  Homes are far less affordable than they were a decade ago.

"The problem is not going away and rural communities need sustained public investment over a long period to ensure that these communities are safeguarded, otherwise we risk losing them altogether. 

"Agriculture no longer forms the main source of income and as this diminishes, the service based and recreational economy emerges, as a result of this changing dynamic, people are in even greater need of affordable homes to help them bridge the gap to a more prosperous future in the communities they grew up in."