London home 'needs £93,000 wage'

The average home in Kensington and Chelsea requires a £303,000 salary

First-time buyers in London must earn £93,000-a-year to afford an average home in the city, a report has claimed.

The research by the National Housing Federation, which represents 1,200 housing associations, puts the average house price in London at £362,000.

A single buyer would require the near-six-figure income to get a 90% mortgage at 3.5 times their salary.

The average wage in London is £26,000, while overcrowding rates are 2.5 times the national rate, the report said.

The Housing Federation's Belinda Porich said: "Even by London standards, these are astronomical prices and many people - especially young, first time buyers - can only dream of owning a home.

LONDON'S PRICIEST AND CHEAPEST BOROUGHS Average house prices in: Kensington and Chelsea £1,181,803 (required salary £303,892) Westminster £779,563 (£200,459) Camden £651,580 (£167,549) Hammersmith and Fulham £565,485 (£145,410) Barking and Dagenham, cheapest borough, £197,630 (£50,819)

"Providing more affordable housing is part of the solution - everyone has a right to a home."

The report claims 353,000 families are currently on social housing waiting lists, while more families became homeless last year than new homes were built.

Nearly 7% of houses in London are overcrowded, the authors added.

Ms Porich continued: "This modern-day scourge of overcrowding affects the black community in particular.

"Overcrowding and the huge waiting lists show that governments must recognise the urgency of building new affordable housing."