A GENERATION is being frozen out of owning a home as Essex property prices are £10,000 more than the regional average, a new report says.

An annual National Housing Federation report says the average property price in Essex is more than £247,000.

The report states the average worker in Essex needs to earn £52,942 to obtain a 75 per cent mortgage at 3.5 times his or her income.

Gary Turner, operations manager at south Essex homeless charity the Homeless Action Resource Project, said: “Property prices certainly do not help with homelessness.

“People come to us struggling to get a deposit together for a month or two for a flat, let alone saving up for a deposit for a mortgage.

“In my day, you only had to save 10 per cent and obviously we’ve had the 100 per cent mortgage days.

“Now, you need to save a fair amount more and it’s incredibly difficult to get on the housing ladder in this part of the world.”

The report, titled Home Truths, says that Essex is the second most difficult place to get on the ladder in the region.

Hertfordshire is the priciest place in the East of England to try to buy a property, with the average house price £317,376, or 12 times the average wage in the country.

In Essex, the average property price is £247,062, 11 times the average wage for the county.

Claire Astbury, from the federation, which represents Engl-and’s housing associations, said: “Our report shows there is a desperate need for more affordable homes in rural and urban communities.

“A reformed planning system must support the building of affordable homes and the use of suitable surplus public land.”

She said the problem is not being helped as pay freezes are meaning workers are struggling to find spare cash to save.