Brainstorming sessions are to be held to find solutions to a "black hole" in the provision of housing in west Oxfordshire.

People who do not qualify for social housing and cannot afford to get on to the property ladder are being forced to leave the district.

Many people in their 20s and 30s find their only other option is to continue to live with their parents.

The district council has set up a working party to look into the problem.

It will hold its first meeting on December 19.

One of the members of the working party is councillor and architect Colin James, who has suggested ideas like houseboats on flooded gravel pits and "American-style" caravan parks.

The move follows a recent survey of housing, which found that the average price of a house in the district is £171,000.

Nearly 1,500 people who took part in the survey said they planned to leave the district in the next five years because of the lack of affordable housing.

The report added that home ownership was beyond the means of 95 per cent of younger people.

The working party will report back to the economic and social scrutiny committee, whose chairman is Liberal Democrat Brenda Smith.

She said: "As a council we're doing as well as we can within the financial limits to provide social housing.

"At the other end, you have people who don't have a problem paying £400,000 for a second home in the district.

"But there's a black hole in the middle, people who are earning a reasonable wage but cannot afford to get on to the property ladder."

witney@nqo.com