AN OXFORD University academic today publishes a book that says house price rises in Oxford outpaced London last year.

Danny Dorling, Halford Mackinder Professor of Geography, said a key factor was the lower wages paid in the city when compared to those in the capital.

Others included stricter tests for mortgages at banks, which as house prices rose would continue to affect more people, he said.

Between October 2014 and last month, his analysis found the ratio of average house prices to incomes in Oxford rose to over 15 times the average annual income.

In London it was 14 times the average annual income.

The figures follow a special report by the Oxford Mail, which revealed Land Registry figures showing housing costs doubled in just over a decade.

Prof Dorling said: “Fewer and fewer people are able to get a mortgage as stricter tests are imposed to prevent the banks from lending as recklessly as they did before.

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“Meanwhile, at least a third of those with mortgages would struggle if mortgages were to rise by even a couple of percentage points at some point in future years.

“The further that house prices rise, the greater that proportion will grow, leaving a growing proportion of people with no option but to rent.

“The more ‘affordable’ parts of the country also have high ratios that just look relatively better compared with the unprecedented expense of current housing costs in London and Oxford.”

The book, All That Is Solid: How the Great Housing Disaster Defines Our Times and What We Can Do About It, is out today.