HOUSE prices in Ryedale are now more than ten times the average salary in the district, according to a new report.

Research by the National Housing Federation, published in their annual Home Truths survey, says the average cost of a home in the Ryedale district rose to £236,667 last year - more than ten times the mean average wage of £23,374.

The figures were published shortly before a Government white paper on housing, launched by communities secretary Sajid Javid last week. During the launch, Mr Javid described the housing market as “broken”.

He said: “Behind the statistics are millions of ordinary working people.

“I’m talking about the first-time buyer who’s saving hard but won’t have enough for a deposit for almost a quarter of a century. Or the couple in the private rented sector handing half their combined income straight to their landlord.”

In Ryedale, renting a home is also costly according to the Home Truths report, with the average private sector rent at £596 a month - above the Yorkshire average.

Jo Allen, the National Housing Federation’s external affairs manager for Yorkshire and the Humber, said: “It is clear that Yorkshire and the Humber is suffering from an acute housing crisis and these truly distressing stats simply reaffirm that fact – we simply must get building more genuinely affordable homes.”

The cost of housing against salaries in Ryedale has grown significantly in the last 20 years. In 1997, according to Land Registry data, the average house price in the district was around £60,000 - approximately four times the average wage at the time.

The Government white paper set out a number of measures that they plan to introduce to help reform the housing market and increase the supply of new homes, including measures to increase the speed of developments and to diversify the market, allowing smaller developers in.

Mick Johnston of the Thirsk and Malton Labour party said: “The Government’s assessment that the housing market is broken is correct and is as true in Ryedale and surrounding areas as anywhere in the country.

“The root cause of the problem, in Ryedale as nationally, is a long term failure of the market to meet people’s needs and an equally long-term failure of governments to do anything about it.”

The Home Truths report added that, according to the DCLG, there are 233 long-term empty homes in the Ryedale district, and 812 second homes.