Housing waiting lists in the South Hams have nearly doubled in the past five years, a report has found.

The report, titled South West Home Truths: The Real Cost of Housing 2007-2012, shows that waiting lists have surged by a whopping 90 per cent since 2002.

The National Housing Federation (NHF), which produced the report, attributes the rises to a lack of affordable housing and a growing number of second homes.

According to the figures, 1,511 households were on South Hams District Council (SHDC) waiting lists in 2006.

Waiting lists included rented council homes and housing association affordable homes to buy.

Derek Cash, head of South region for the NHF, said: "Devon and Cornwall are experiencing a rapidly escalating housing crisis, with waiting lists more than doubling.

"These figures show that we have a real crisis on our hands."

In 2006, the South Hams had an average house price of £282,000, but an average income of less than £18,000 - a price to income ratio of nearly 16, one of the worst in the whole country.

Local people needed an average income of nearly £77,000 to get a mortgage last year.

Derek Cash, NHF: "Devon and Cornwall are experiencing a rapidly escalating housing crisis, with waiting lists more than doubling."

And looking ahead, the NHF report predicted that the South Hams affordability crisis would get even worse in the next five years.

Property prices in the South West are expected to rise by a further 44 per cent to reach £316,000 by 2012.

The South Hams has the highest proportion of second homes in Devon, according to a recent Western Morning News (WMN) survey.

The area is home to a staggering 4,869 holiday homes - 11.7 per cent of the total housing stock.

East Portlemouth, a picturesque village near Salcombe, has been dubbed the second home capital of the South Hams.

Nearly half of the houses in the picturesque seaside village are used on a part-time basis, figures from the SHDC show.

Funding social homes in new ways

This year housing association Tor Homes provided 25 new social homes in East Allington for people on the SHDC waiting list.

These homes are the first fruit of an innovative scheme by councils in Devon to deliver extra social homes.

Council tax collected on second homes in the county is now being used to help pay for new housing schemes.

The East Allington homes cost £2.5m and were funded by a combination of money from Tor Homes, the Housing Corporation and second homes council tax.

SHDC now has a policy of trying to achieve a split of one third private sales, one third shared ownership and one third social rented homes on new developments in the area to combat the huge levels of local housing need.