内容摘要：Marc Davies, Welsh Water's water services director said "temporary use bans" could be introduced in the next four to six weeks, depending on the level of upcoming rainfall.

Marc Davies, Welsh Water's water services director said "temporary use bans" could be introduced in the next four to six weeks, depending on the level of upcoming rainfall.

Figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) this week estimate the average home was worth A$1,002,500 in the March quarter, up 0.7 per cent from the previous quarter.The nation is home to some of the least affordable cities on Earth, where buying or renting a place is increasingly out of reach for many Australians.

Experts say the crisis is being driving by a lack of homes, a growing population, tax incentives for property investors, and inadequate investment in social housing.The country's most populous state, New South Wales (NSW), continues to have the priciest homes on average, at A$1.2m, followed by Queensland at A$945k, according to the ABS.The agency's Mish Tan said the states of Western Australia, South Australia and Queensland were the "main drivers of the rise".

While the average price of homes climbed in all states and territories in the March quarter, the annual growth rate is slowing, she added.The figures take in Australia's 11.3m dwellings - including the full gamut of property types, from freestanding homes, to terrace houses and apartments.

Michael Fotheringham, head of the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, is not surprised to see the $1m benchmark crossed.

Though a "daunting" and "compelling" statistic, he says it is the result of a years-long national trend of home prices outpacing wages and leaving the housing system "very strained".Development funding to advance a carbon capture project in Aberdeenshire was also announced in the UK Government's Spending Review.

The Acorn Project based in St Fergus would take greenhouse gas emissions and store them under the North Sea, in a process known as carbon capture and storage (CCS).It comes following calls from business leaders for investment in the long-delayed project, which has been on a reserve list for funding.

The exact amount of development funding for the project has not been announced and UK government documentation published with the Spending Review states "a final investment decision will be taken later this parliament, subject to project readiness and affordability".Reeves said: "These are investments to make sure the towns and cities which powered our last industrial revolution will play their part in our next industrial revolution, to reduce our reliance on overseas oil and gas and protect working families from price shocks."