Fears for future Portsmouth homeowners as houses cost seven times the annual wage

The average house in the city cost £212,000 last year, up from £56,500 in 1998.

But figures from the Office for National Statistics show that for workers in Portsmouth wages have only increased by 1.7 the amount in the same time.

This is in line with salaries across England, although nationally the average house price hasn't increased by quite so much - £65,000 up to £239,000.

Portsmouth City Council's housing boss, Councillor Darren Sanders, feared it would discourage people from staying in the city. 'The figures are not surprising,' he said.

'This means that essentially house prices are more than seven times the average wage. That is pricing homes out of the reach of many families and many people who want to stay here in and work here. That's not right.'

Cllr Sanders also believed that the council's 'impossible' housing targets of 863 new homes a year would not help the situation. He said: 'We have got targets our own planners tell us are higher than the city can cope with. The government should scrap its artificial targets and allow us to set our own targets based on what the city needs.

'We need more affordable homes and we need to work to boost economic growth in the city. We are facing a situation in Portsmouth where just over one in four people who claim benefits are actually employed. It should be that people can live off their wages.'

His views were echoed by Labour housing campaigner Cal Corkery who felt that inflated costs of living were also part of the problem.

'The statistics point to the fact that the housing crisis is a cost of living crisis,' he said.

'As well as house prices inflating massively wages have more or less stagnated for a long period of time.

'That has really contributed to a place where people are priced out of the housing market. Even for people who are able to access the privately rented sector it is almost impossible for people to save up enough money to get on the property ladder.

'It is so important to keep campaigning for more social and affordable housing.'

The figures come after the council lost a long-running battle for 30 affordable homes as part of the multi-million pound redevelopment of the Queen's Hotel in Southsea.

Cal added: 'I think it's nice to see the council taking a stand on this particular issue. A lot of the time you see authorities just roll over when it comes to this sort of thing. But we must take a tougher approach.'

Affordable homes are dwellings that are for sale or rent at a price below market level, usually 80 per cent of the cost.

Mike Shepherd, director of development at Vivid - Portsmouth's largest provider of affordable homes, said: 'We recognise the challenge many in Portsmouth face with rising house prices, and that’s why we plan to deliver 17,000 new homes over the next 10 years in the south to help address this crisis.

'The social, economic and health benefits long term affordable housing can bring to families and communities is vast, and we’re committed to playing our part. Our homes meet a wide range of affordability and tenures including social rent, affordable rent, shared ownership and market sale.'

In the area Gosport saw house prices rise the most - £52,500 in 1998 compared to £203,000 in 2018. It means they went up by 3.9 times, while in that time the average wage went up from £16,003 to £27,300, up by 1.7 times.

Wages in Fareham increased the highest amount from £17,798 in 1998 to £31,248 two decades later, while the average house price went up from £80,000 to £285,000, up by 3.6 times.

In Havant in 1998 the average wage was £16,097, while in 2018 it was £27,879, up 1.7 times. The average house price increased from £73,500 to £263,000 - up 3.6 times.

Across England the average house price grew from £65,000 to £239,000 (up 3.7 times) while average wages grew fro, £17,709 to £29,872 (up 1.7 by times)