Rural homes are more expensive than urban ones in every region

Chiltern named as the most expensive rural area in Britain

Eynsham village in Oxfordshire (John Lawrence)

Countryside homes command a significant price premium over urban ones, according to new figures from Halifax. This ranges from £86,218 in the South East to £11,570 in the North East.

"There is a significant premium on property in the countryside across Great Britain," said Martin Ellis, housing economist at Halifax. "Country living remains a widespread aspiration, but relatively high prices put rural homes out of the reach for many. Potential first-time buyers are particularly affected by high property prices, and consequently they account for a smaller proportion of homebuyers in the countryside than in urban areas."

The average house price in the countryside is equivalent to 6.3 times gross annual average earnings, whereas for urban areas it is 4.9. Copeland in Cumbria, , Stirling, East Ayrshire, Western Isles, and Pendle in Lancashire are the most affordable rural areas in the country while Cotswold is the least affordable. It has an average house price 9.4 times local gross annual average earnings.

Chiltern is the most expensive rural area in Britain with an average house price of £407,012, more than four times higher than in the least expensive rural area, East Ayrshire.

Halifax's figures show that first-time buyers account for 40 per cent of all mortgage financed purchases in rural areas, significantly lower than in urban areas where the figure is 52 per cent. First-time buyers account for only a quarter of all purchases in Cotswold and East Hampshire.

Figures out today from Rightmove show that the average price of a home in outer London is more than twice those in the rest of England and Wales.