A HUGE demand for affordable housing in Malvern has been highlighted by an assessment carried out for Malvern Hills District Council.

Presenting the housing needs assessment to the planning committee on Tuesday (October 8), head of planning Gary Williams flagged up its conclusion that 156 affordable homes need to be built every year until 2011 to meet demand.

The assessment put the average price of houses sold in the district during 2001 as £120,859 in Malvern and £164,770 in the south of the district surrounding Upton-upon-Severn. This represents an increase of 40 per cent over the past three years.

It added that almost half of household incomes in the area are below £18,200, and for three-quarters of households the maximum mortgage available would be £68,000. Twenty-five per cent would not be able to buy a property at all.

Mr Williams said that even if every house built in the area between now and 2011 was "affordable" it still would not meet the demand.

Proposed solutions to the problem include stipulating that developers building five or more houses at once must make a proportion of them affordable, and making those building fewer than five contribute to a pot from which more affordable housing will be funded.