West Devon Borough Council has drafted a 15-point plan to tackle the housing crisis in the borough.

Councillors will be asked to approve the plan at their hub committee meeting on March 8.

At the full council meeting recently, councillors declared a housing crisis, after hearing that current house prices were now 12 times the average salary.

They heard that the increasing trend for people to move to the area from urban locations had made the already desperate situation worse.

In addition to out of reach house prices, there is also an acute shortage of homes to rent.

Councillors supported a motion proposed by the council’s lead member for housing Cllr Barry Ratcliffe which called for recognition of the seriousnss of the current situation.

Cllr Ratcliffe said: ’It’s no secret the housing situation has reached crisis point in West Devon. There is almost no availability of long-term rental properties and what is out there has risen in price to become simply unaffordable for many. The average cost of buying a house has also shot up - now 12 times the average salary. If we don’t act now, too many local people will be forced out of the area, away from their support network, family, friends and schools.

’By declaring a housing crisis we are recognising the urgency of the matter and acknowledging that we need new, creative ideas to bring us solutions. Whilst the Joint Local Plan is working well, and we are beating the targets for new houses, this national initiative it is not enough to match our current local situation.

’We need to look carefully at what sorts of housing we need in the borough and the best ways to increase availability. We’ve already increased our Tenant Incentive Scheme to give up to £5,000 to anyone who moves from a housing association house that is too big for their needs to a smaller property. And we need more bold initiatives like this if we are going to make a difference.’