House prices are 10 times local wages in the South Hams

South Hams District Council wants to force developers to allocate 50% of new projects to affordable homes from May.

The move comes as the council battles to solve the housing crisis facing people in the area where the average home is now 10 times the average local wage.

But developers say it will lead to fewer houses being built because of the lower returns from affordable homes.

Pierre Williams, spokesman for the Housebuilders' Federation, said that developers would be scared away.

He said: "A very large part of the reason why homes are not affordable is that there are simply not enough of them because the local authorities are restricting planning permission for new homes.

There's a lot of decent hard-working people who have managed to scrimp and save enough to buy an overpriced house in somewhere like Appledore Ken, Gloucester Have your say on the homes crisis on BBC Devon

Mr Bray rejected the claim, saying the council had done viability work on its plans, which showed they could work.

He said: "We have to do something to enable local people to get their first foot on the housing ladder.

"We want and we need development.

"Developers will probably not eagerly embrace it, but they understand the need and they want clear guidelines."