THE vast majority of Southampton’s young parents do not earn enough to buy a family home in the city, the Daily Echo can reveal.

Government figures show just 15 per cent of families under 40 can afford a three-bedroom house.

Other parts of Hampshire fared better.

Winchester was the most affordable area with 37 per cent of young parents being able to get on to the housing ladder compared to Fareham (32 per cent), Eastleigh (31 per cent), Test Valley (31 per cent) and the New Forest (29 per cent).

But families on the Isle of Wight fared even worse, with just 14 per cent of young parents able to snap up a suitable home.

Daily Echo: Click below to see a video of today's headlines in sixty seconds

The National Housing and Planning Advice Unit’s study on housing affordability found just 26 per cent of families under 40 across England could afford to buy a three-bedroom house.

Typical first-time buyers have seen average deposits soar from 16 per cent of annual income in 2000 to 64 per cent in 2009, according to the report.

Things worsened last year as mortgage lenders reduced the amount they were prepared to lend in relation to the value of a property.

Latest figures compiled by the Land Registry last month showed that the average house price in Southampton was £144,047 while in Hampshire the figure was £203,638. The average price of a house in England and Wales currently stands at £161,783.

The average salary for full-time workers is £25,123, according to the Hampshire-based Office for National Statistics Sandra Gidley, Liberal Democrat MP for Romsey, including parts of northern Southampton, said: “It’s devastating that 85 per cent of young families in Southampton are being forced to put their dreams of owning a home on hold.

“We could quickly increase supply and affordability by focusing on the hundreds of thousands of homes across the country currently sitting empty.”

Southampton Test MP Alan Whitehead said one of the key ways of increasing affordable housing stock was by increasing the availability of properties that could be part-bought and part-rented, from housing associations.

“We need a rolling stock of affordable homes,” he said.

Housing charity Shelter said: “The shocking figures reinforce the true extent to which housing has become completely unaffordable for most ordinary people.”

However, the Department for Communities and Local Government said its commitment to supporting first-time buyers was demonstrated by moves to increase opportunities for families to buy a share of a home where they could not afford the full cost.

A spokeswoman said: “Our schemes are now open to households earning up to £60,000 who wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford to buy, and the funding we have put in place will result in 13,000 new homes being built for those aspiring to get on the housing ladder.”