First-time buyers face worsening levels of affordable housing

The figures suggested buyers in Edinburgh need to pay about five times their household income, compared with a Scottish average of 3.67.

The study said the average house price in Edinburgh was �185,651, compared with a Scottish average of �119,344.

However, the study also said Scotland as a whole was the most affordable part of Britain to live.

HIGHEST HOUSE PRICE / INCOME RATIOS Edinburgh 4.99 Glasgow 4.22 East Lothian 4.42 Midlothian 4.29 Aberdeen 3.72 Dundee 3.24

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation study said that across Britain the average price of a house was �165,326, with buyers paying an average of 4.36 of their income on a home.

The report's author, Professor Steve Wilcox of the Centre for Housing Policy at the University of York, said the report, entitled The Geography of Affordable and Unaffordable Housing, highlighted worsening levels of affordability across Britain.

"While overall Scotland remains the most affordable part of Great Britain, Edinburgh is among the least affordable areas, and affordability continues to worsen in Scotland as it does in the rest of Britain," he said.

Figures suggested that East Lothian and Midlothian were also expensive places to buy, with income ratios of 4.42 and 4.29 respectively.

LOWEST HOUSE PRICE / INCOME RATIOS Shetland 2.36 East Ayrshire 2.75 North Ayrshire 2.28 North Lanarkshire 2.84

The lowest house price to income ratio was in the Shetland Isles (2.36).

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation study was based on an analysis of 2005 figures from the Survey of Mortgage Lenders.