The West Midlands has been named as the least affordable region for families to get themselves on the property market.

According to research by housing charity Shelter, 93% of families in the county who are currently privately renting are unable to buy their own homes - with new build homes in the West Midlands now costing an average of £206, 950.

These figures are based on average new build home prices, mortgage loan-to-income ratios and household income data.

The report suggests that government help-to-buy schemes are not doing enough to help with staggeringly high asking prices that continue to shut out families.

Eight out of ten working families across England are in the same situation - with the East Midlands, South West and North West also struggling with a lack of affordable homes.

Research also points towards the problems that many new build homeowners currently face, as 51% have experienced problems with their properties including unfinished fittings and faults with utilities.

Shelter have called the current system “rigged” and “broken”.

Video Loading

Graeme Brown, Shelter’s interim chief executive, said: “Big developers and land traders are making millions from a rigged system while families struggle with huge renting costs and have to give up on owning a home of their own, which has become nothing more than a pipe dream.

“For decades we’ve relied on this broken system and, despite the sweeteners offered to developers to build the homes we need, it simply hasn’t worked.”

He added: “The only way to fix our ever-growing housing crisis is for the Government to champion a bold new approach which responds to communities to build the genuinely affordable, beautiful homes they want – as we have done as a country in the past.”

In their report, Shelter have proposed a system of “new civic housebuilding” that would see greater powers for local authorities over land in their area, leading to the building of new, affordable homes.

Under this initiative, landowners would be given the option of selling at competitive prices or investing in new developments on their land, getting a share of the profits in return.

It is obvious that something needs to be done to build more affordable homes or families across the West Midlands and the UK will continue to be locked out of the property market.