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Less affordable housing in countryside

By Jonathan Dawes, Mon 15 Sep 2008 - Published in Mortgages

Research has shown mortgage customers in rural areas face less affordable housing.

A study by Halifax covering 123 local authorities in the UK classed as rural areas found the average £235,324 price tag of a country property is 15 per cent higher than the £204,290 for an urban home.

The report reveals that the average property price in rural regions is 7.3 times the average annual earnings, with mortgage holders in urban environments seeing a ratio of 6:1.

In addition, Chiltern in Buckinghamshire is the most expensive rural local authority in the UK with the average house costing £448,635, while the ten most expensive areas are in southern England.

The study also discovered Bridgnorth in the West Midlands is the highest price countryside area outside the south of England at £268,579, while the average price of 129,887 in Pendle in the north-west makes it the least expensive area.

Suren Thiru, economist at Halifax, explained: "Housing in rural areas is less affordable than in urban areas due to a combination of higher average prices and lower average earnings."

Last week, research from Moneyfacts suggested the UK has a mortgages lottery, with borrowers in the midlands having access to the greatest number of products.