The cost of buying a home in Swale is still out of reach for thousands of people, according to a new report.

With the average house price in the borough costing £171,573 - eight times the area's £21,518 average income - the National Housing Federation is warning of more problems to come.

Three years into the housing slump, the federation has warned that house prices have risen faster in the South East than any region of the country outside London - increasing more than 11 per cent in the year to May 2010.

Its report, South East Home Truths 2010, was launched last week and MPs and councillors heard South East house prices had risen three times faster than incomes over the past decade.

The federation says that with the average home in Kent costing £218,462 - 10 times the average individual income of £21,923 - home ownership on the open market remains out of reach for many in the county, with even homes in the lowest quartile costing an average of £140,000

Topping Kent's "league" table for the least affordable area in the county is Sevenoaks - which also takes seventh place in the top 10 least affordable places in the South East.

Swale comes in as the ninth least affordable area out of a list of 13, with Medway the most affordable.

The federation says that as a result, it is unsurprising that people were turning to social housing, with more (29,245) households in Kent on waiting lists - an increase of 10.4 per cent in the last five years.