Simon Read: The homebuying dreams of many are broken

Shocking research published by housing charity Shelter this week showed that if salaries had kept pace with house price inflation in the past 15 years, you would be paid more than twice as much now.

That would mean the average wage would be more than £55,000, rather than the official £25,932.

The figures reveal how much harder it is to get on the property ladder now. In some areas soaring house prices and static salaries paint an even more depressing picture.

Pay for workers in the London borough of Hackney would need to be four times higher than the current average to have kept pace with property.

Average earners take home £31,304 in Hackney, but if wages had matched property inflation, the salary would stand at £131,924.

There are similarly depressing figures across the country. People on average wages in Watford and Brighton and Hove would need an extra £47,000 each year to keep up with local house price inflation, for instance, while those in Manchester would need to earn £34,000 more.

The figures point to a serious shortage of affordable housing across the nation, something the government must address.

s.read@independent.co.uk

Twitter: @simonnread