Three years into the housing slump and owning a home in Shropshire and the West Midlands is still out of reach for thousands across the region, a new report claims.

West Midlands Home Truths 2010, published by the National Housing Federation yesterday, warned that house prices in the region still remained too high for many to afford. It claims the area has the highest unemployment rate of any region.

And it says it is one of England’s weakest regional economies.

Even so, the report says, a 90 per cent mortgage on an average home here now requires an income of more than £43,000.

South Shropshire is one of the top five least affordable local authority areas in the West Midlands, with an average house price of £219,974, requiring 12.8 times the average income of £17,233 for the area.

The report follows a major conference in the region warning housing providers in Shropshire that the region was struggling to meet housing need.

The West Midlands has the highest proportion of households living in overcrowded conditions of any region outside London.

It comes after the Government’s decision to cut the affordable homes building budget by 63 per cent in the recent spending review.

With the average home in the region now costing £167,569 – about 8.5 times the average individual income of £19,609 – home ownership on the open market remains out of reach for many in the region.

In 2009/10 8,750 homes only were built in the region, substantially under the 20,600 needed every year.

Paul Williams, of the National Housing Federation in the West Midlands, said: “Housing need in the West Midlands region is rea-ching desperate levels and, with the sweeping changes the Government is bringing in, coupled with the ongoing impact of the economic dow-nturn, it looks like the situation is only going to get worse.”