A shortage of affordable homes to rent or buy, rising prices and stagnant wage growth have all contributed to the problem.

Savills said one-third of the 300,000 new homes pledged by Philip Hammond in the Budget would need to be offered below market prices to meet demand.

The vast majority of the shortfall is in London and the South. In London, households may have income as high as £35,000 and still be affected – around 20% of those priced out of the market had incomes above this level. Savills suggested that shared ownership initiatives may help in these more expensive areas.

The report showed a shortfall of 55,000 affordable homes being built each year. Again, this problem was particularly acute in the capital with 42,500 households needing affordable homes and only 8,800 built. The gap was far lower in the North, with 9,600 homes needed and 8,900 built.

In the past week, the Mayor of London vowed to protect the Green Belt while still doubling the number of new homes built each year in the Capital. Sadiq Khan pledged the number of affordable homes will rise from 29,000 to 66,000. The draft London Plan, due to be launched on Wednesday, is thought to contain a requirement for 50% of London developments to be ‘affordable’ (35% for private housebuilders).