Brighton and Hove faces a bleak economic and social future without higher wages and more affordable housing, a new report claims.

It says workers, mainly those in the public sector, earn the lowest wages in the South-East but face some of the most expensive housing.

The lack of affordable housing coupled with low wages is pricing teachers, nurses, care workers and transport workers out.

Properties are being bought up by higher-earning London commuters.

Steve Foster, of the Brighton and Hove branch of public sector union Unison, sent his report to councillors last week.

The union is calling for workers in Brighton and Hove to receive a £2,000 outer London weighting allowance on salaries.

He said a third of children in Brighton and Hove were living in 'poor households'.

Mr Foster said: "This really hits low-paid workers hard, such as in local government where most earn less than £13,000.

"It is in the interests of all of us to ensure public sector wages can keep up. It is good for the economy in spending, good for public services, good for the people themselves and their children who have a chance to stay here."

Mr Foster's report, Housing and Low Pay in Brighton and Hove, comes after the latest Land Registry figures released last Friday.

They revealed the average price of a home in Brighton and Hove had reached £150,963.

A year ago a flat would have cost first-time buyers an average of £87,585. The same property now costs £117,911.

Unison says workers would have to earn more than £28,000 a year to be able to buy a property.

They estimate 50 to 75 per cent of people looking to buy in the city are from the London area.

The report says the local economy will suffer with businesses relocating because of recruitment and retention problems.

It also warns of a 'catastrophe' looming in the caring profession.

The union plans to lobby MPs and councillors and collaborate with other trade unions to raise the profile of a 'living wage'.