OWNING a home is "now little more than a pipe dream" for public sector workers in the North West, claims a trade union.

UNISON says saving for a deposit and getting a mortgage are "often insurmountable hurdles", while getting a down payment together on a house could "take decades".

The trade union's report - Priced Out - based its findings on first-time buyers saving £100 a month for a 15 per cent deposit.

UNISON looked at the salaries of an NHS cleaner, teaching assistant, librarian, nurse and police community support officer (PCSO) and worked out how many times their annual income they would need to borrow for a mortgage once they had paid a deposit.

The union said it would take 17 years for public sector workers in the North West wanting to buy for the first time to save the necessary deposit.

An NHS cleaner earning £17,460 a year would need to borrow more than six 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 nearly six times their annual wage. A nurse earning £23,023 a year, a PCSO on £23,346, and a librarian earning £23,866 would each need to borrow nearly five times their pay.

UNISON said the Bank of England’s maximum recommended lending limit is four-and-a-half times a person’s salary.

House prices are predicted to grow faster than wages until at least 2022, said the report.

UNISON North West regional secretary Kevan Nelson 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.

“The struggle for housing cuts across generations, jobs and regions."