HOUSE prices are too high for public sector workers in Powys according to a union.

Owning a home has become a dream for many public sector workers in Wales and Powys says UNISON.

The UNISON report "Priced Out" highlights how saving the money for a down payment on a property could take decades.

Monmouthshire is the most expensive local authority area with the first time  buyer average cost of £188, 892.

Powys was fifth highest out  of the Welsh Local authorities with the cost being £159, 271.

The research focused on the salaries for employees in five jobs ­– an NHS cleaner, teaching assistant, librarian, nurse and police community support officer (PCSO).

It calculated what multiple of their annual income they would need to borrow for a mortgage once they had paid a deposit*.

Research shows that in Powys an NHS cleaner earning ￡17,460 a year would need to borrow on average nearly eight times their salary to secure a mortgage for a first-time buyer property.

A teaching assistant earning ￡19,446 a year would need to apply to borrow seven times their annual wage, and a nurse earning ￡23,023 a year, a PCSO on ￡23,346 and a librarian on ￡23,866 would all need six times their pay.

The Bank of England’s maximum recommended lending limit is 4.5 times a person’s salary,

Unison assistant general secretary, Margaret Thomas, said: “Owning a home is now little more than a pipe dream for most public sector workers.

“Deposits and mortgages are quite simply way out of reach, while the spiralling cost of renting is eating up a growing proportion of the take home pay of working people across Britain.

"Wage rises haven’t kept pace with soaring house prices and rents, and the situation looks set to worsen."