A new package of measures to tackle spiralling house prices in Oxford have been announced by the city council.

In the last year, house prices rose by 25 per cent and local businesses have major expansion plans that will fuel demand still further.

Oxford City Council has adopted a new policy, insisting that all new housing developments in the city should include 30 per cent of affordable, social housing.

Cllr John Goddard, chairman of the planning committee, said: "This is a very considerable step in getting more affordable housing on new developments.

"We will be looking at more radical policies for addressing the most pressing problem in Oxford - the lack of housing."

There are also plans to set up a symposium in June of developers, academics, businesses and politicians to gauge future housing need and new ways of providing it.

Cllr Jock Coats said: "Government planning policies are failing Oxford and Oxfordshire because they lack this sort of forward vision - 1,000 families in the city are now classified as homeless.

"There is new development in Oxford, but prices for a two-bedroom apartment at Barclay Homes' Waterside development in north Oxford start at £200,000. We want people on a salary of about £20,000 to be able to afford a house for three-and-a-half times their salary."

BMW announced two weeks ago that it wants to recruit an extra 1,800 workers for its Cowley plant and Harwell International Business Centre has plans to create 1,000 new jobs.

The nursing, police and teaching professions have suffered because of the high cost of living.