Shakespeare's birthplace is the hardest place in the West Midlands for first-time buyers to get onto the housing ladder, according to new research.

Average incomes do not match the high prices for homes asked in the popular tourist area and this, combined with a limited ability to save for a deposit, means misery for those trying to take their first steps into house ownership in Stratford.

Solihull and Warwick follow the Warwickshire town as being difficult areas for first timers to buy in.

House prices are ten times the average wages of first-time buyers in more than a third of local authorities in the West Midlands, according to research conducted by the National Housing Federation (NHF).

Henrietta Brealey, external affairs manager for the West Midlands at the NHF, said: "Younger people in the West Midlands, especially those whose parents can't help financially, can find themselves stuck living in their childhood bedrooms or paying high private rents that make it almost impossible to find a home that is genuinely affordable.

"If the new Government doesn't urgently address the chronic shortage of housing, young people and families will continue to be locked out of ever owning a home in future."

In the table of the 20 most expensive places to become a first-time buyer in the West Midlands, Stratford was in the number one slot with the lowest average house price of £170,000 compared to a lowest average annual income of £12,904.

There was also a shortfall of houses of 313, with 723 houses needed a year but only 410 built in 2014.

Warwick (fourth) had the same lowest average house price as Stratford but a slightly higher lowest average annual income at £14,398. However, it has the worst figures for house building, with 732 needed a year but only 130 constructed in 2014.

Solihull's (fifth) lowest average house price was £155,500 while the lowest average annual income was £13,494. Out of the 741 houses needed, 380 were built, leaving a shortfall of 361.

First timers have a better chance to buy in Walsall where the lowest average house price dipped under £100,000 at £95,000 and the lowest average annual wage was £10,921.

But the local authority shot past its house building target. It needed 487 and built 730 in 2014 – an excess of 243.

Other local authority areas featuring in the top 20 most expensive places to become a first-time buyer include Bromsgrove, Worcester, Tamworth and Rugby.