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Key workers such as police officers and teachers are priced out of more parts of London than ever before despite the slowdown in the property market, according to a new study.

The findings dash hopes that stagnant home prices might make it easier for workers in essential professions to put down roots in the capital.

Only eight per cent of London homes can be afforded by a police officer on an average £44,824 salary, according to the analysis from home-moving comparison site reallymoving.com.

Two years ago the figure was 14 per cent, but tiny wage increases and continuing rises in prices in the outer suburbs mean that even fewer parts of the capital are now within reach.

It was the same story with teachers, who can afford seven per cent of homes on average salaries of £42,359. Two years ago the figure was 13 per cent.

However, they still had more choice than workers in some other sectors, with bar staff able to afford only one per cent of the capital’s homes, sales assistants two per cent and taxi drivers four per cent. Train drivers, whose average salaries are £66,320, can access 27 per cent of the city’s housing stock.

Rob Houghton, chief executive of reallymoving.com, said: “Becoming a train driver may not be a profession many people consider, but in fact it is surprisingly well paid and offers a great chance of getting on the housing ladder, even in London.

“Sadly, police officers and teachers now find themselves almost entirely priced out of the capital, despite the fact that they provide essential services.”

The research assumes that people are buying on their own with six months’ gross salary as a deposit and a mortgage of 4.5 times salary, giving them total “firepower” of five times salary.

This amounts to £224,120 for a police officer on average pay and £211,795 for the teacher.

Chief executives fare best in London, where they can still afford to buy 75 per cent of properties. Doctors, who earn an average of £86,785 in the capital, can afford less than 49 per cent of homes.

Paula Higgins, chief executive of the HomeOwners Alliance lobby group, said: “The affordable housing shortage impacts us all — who will teach our children and keep us safe? And there is no end in sight.”