A new pressure group is campaigning for house prices to be regulated so that more people can afford to buy their own property.

Bob Goodall, who started the Save Our Building Societies group, is spearheading the new crusade and wants campaigners to write to MPs and other organisations to highlight issues such as availability and affordability.

First-time buyer numbers are at their lowest level since 1981 and the last few years of escalating house prices have left many potential first-time buyers unable to afford a property.

Halifax said recently that average house prices were now beyond the means of people on average incomes in nine out of 10 towns.

Mr Goodall said: "The best way of ratcheting up the standard of living of people in this country is to regulate the biggest cost in their lives - housing." He added, "Regulation is a free tool for the government that costs nothing financially."

Mr Goodall explained that a person only realises the wealth in their property if they sell their home. "Then the 'wealth' is gone when they buy another one, unless they move away," He said.

The best way for raising the overall standard of living in Britain, he said, was to control the biggest financial burden in people's lives.

"I think it is an idea that will appeal to people across the country," Mr Goodall said. "No-one benefits from house price inflation. High house prices is an illusion of wealth that means higher costs such as insurance."