FAMILIES across the region think an average home is priced out of their reach, a survey has revealed.

More than half of people questioned in the North-East and North Yorkshire said they felt a three-bedroomed house in their area was unaffordable.

One in ten parents also felt the problem was so bad that if their family grew, they would have to move to a cheaper area to buy a bigger home, which could mean moving their children to another school.

Despite recent figures that showed house prices continued to fall last month - with the North-East having the UK's worst slump in house price inflation during April - the survey by homeless charity Shelter and the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) revealed that 53 per cent of people in the North-East and 50 per cent in Yorkshire still feel prices are unaffordable. The survey found that the only area in the UK where prices are deemed to be realistic was in parts of northernmost Scotland.

Andrew Potter, from JW Wood estate agency, in Darlington, said: "It is true a lot of people do find it difficult to meet the price of property but, at the same time, a lot of people are buying houses.

"That makes it very difficult to argue that the average home is out of reach."

However, Adam Sampson, the director of homeless charity Shelter, said: "People in the North-East and Yorkshire are bearing the brunt of Britain's affordability crisis.

"The average three bedroom home is now a thing of the past for people on a normal income."