YOUNG people in a North Yorkshire town face a nightmare when they try to move out on their own, a community group has claimed.

Easingwold's lack of affordable housing, and rocketing house prices, condemn young adults to a life attached to their parents' apron strings, or force them to look for cheaper accommodation out of the area, according to the Easingwold Community Youth Project.

The group is currently staging an eight-week programme, entitled Moving Out and Moving On, designed to show youngsters how to set up on their own.

But district youth worker Jo Burgess says the whole process is "terribly difficult" for young people. "Many of our young people want to stay around here, rather than look to York and elsewhere," she said.

"But they are being priced out of the market, especially when it comes to buying. The average house price here is about £90,000, and so you're looking at needing a £20,000 salary to afford a mortgage.

"That's clearly unrealistic for most young people. Even smaller properties become unfeasible because so many have been bought up and extended by people moving in from out of the area.

"Even the rental rates are prohibitive."

Jo said that many new schemes exist to help young people into houses, such as buying "shares" in a house, and part-rental. But the schemes are all based in the York area, and have not yet been pioneered in Easingwold.

Town mayor, Councillor Diane Gallon, agreed.

"There is some property to rent here, but it's usually pretty expensive, and there's not a lot of it," she said. "There is a lack of affordable housing. Developers would rather make money with five-bedroom executive houses than the kind of thing that young people or couples can afford."

Eric Kendall, head of environmental health and housing at Hambleton District Council, admitted that housing young people in the town was a difficult matter. He said: "It is a key area, across the whole district, that we are looking at extensively in the local plan. But the problem stems from the fact that there is very little land on which is accessible for affordable housing."

The Moving Out and Moving On programme takes place on Wednesday evenings at COZIE, or the Chill-Out Zone In Easingwold, near the Galtres Centre, starting at 7pm.

The course provides details on everything a young person needs to know about going it alone, including legal matters, basic maintenance, tenancy agreements and cost implications.

The next session, on March 20, will include a visit by HSBC bank, offering financial advice.

For more details, ring Jo on 01347 822226.

Updated: 11:12 Thursday, March 14, 2002