POTENTIAL homebuyers cannot afford to get on the property ladder in parts of Dorset due to spiralling prices and stagnant wages.

That is the warning from the National Housing Federation, which found that the average house price in Weymouth and Portland last year was nine and a half times what people earned on average in 2013.

It was a similar picture in West Dorset – where the mean annual earnings was recorded as £23,488.

The average price of houses in 2013 was reported as £267,941 – 11.4 times more than people earned on average in 2013.

In Weymouth and Portland, the report shows that the average house price in 2013 was £205,262. The average annual income earned by residents was £21,512.

Sarah Norman and her boyfriend have given up trying to find a house in Dorchester and are instead aiming to get on the property ladder in Weymouth, where average prices are cheaper.

“After months of trying to buy our first house in Dorchester, where we live and both work, me and my boyfriend realised that we couldn’t afford anywhere reasonable in the town other than studio flats,” she said.

“We’re now looking at the Weymouth area as we have been told we will get more for our money and actually afford a mortgage.

“There still isn’t an awful lot of choice, and houses go pretty quickly. But at least we can afford a mortgage on a property in Weymouth – even if we will both have to commute to work every day.”

A Local Plan, which will highlight new housing requirements, is yet to be agreed between Weymouth and Portland Borough Council and West Dorset District Council.

Both councils agreed to suspend the examination of the Local Plan in March to address issues raised by the planning inspector.

One of the main changes is to increase the housing requirement to 775 homes per year and the plan period is being reduced to 2028.

The draft Local Plan sets out a long-term planning strategy to meet future housing, employment and leisure needs.

Jenny Allen, external affairs manager for the South West at the National Housing Federation said: “Spiralling house prices and low, stagnant wages are changing the nature of many towns and villages in the South West as many young people and key workers are forced to move elsewhere to set up home.

“New affordable homes are vital for the stability of communities across the region.

“The housing crisis in the South West has been more than a generation in the making, so short-term initiatives aren’t going to fix it for this generation, or the next.

“We are calling for the next government to commit to ending the housing crisis within a generation by publishing a long-term plan for housing within a year of coming into power.”

The worst ratio between earnings and house prices in Dorset was in Purbeck. People’s mean earnings amounted to £20,961 per year, but the average house price was £273,586 – some 13.1 multiples of income.

The report found East Dorset had the highest average price for housing in 2013 at £295,819 - 11.1 times the average annual earnings of £26,697.

In Poole, the mean house price in 2013 was £289,765, 12 times the average annual income of residents at £24,206.

Rental prices in Weymouth and Portland were the lowest in Dorset. The average monthly price in the Borough was £614 per month, compared with £729 in West Dorset and £758 in Purbeck.