Villages at risk of ‘terminal decline’ due to house prices

FAMILIES living in the countryside have a lower chance of getting on the property ladder than those living in cities, research has shown.

This imbalance presents a “threat to rural life” as working-age people are having to move to cities, leaving villages with increasingly ageing populations and “at risk of terminal decline”.

Fewer than one in 10 rural homes are affordable today, compared with one in five in urban areas, analysis by IPPR, the think tank, has shown.

The average rural property price is now £320,700 – more than £87,000 higher than the typical home in all cities except London.

A family with one child, typically earning one full-time and one parttime wage, would spend 31 per cent of their income on rent in a rural area – compared with 19 per cent if they lived in an urban area, the report says.

The trend is increasingly driving working-age families out of the countryside, leaving an ageing population that could put some villages at risk of disappearing altogether. Darren Baxter, research fellow at IPPR, said: “The high cost of housing in rural areas poses a threat to rural life. Without somewhere affordable to live, young people will leave the countryside, services will close and villages could face terminal decline. An ambitious programme of rural house-building could not only have benefits for individuals but could enhance whole communities, halting the decline in rural life.”

Between 2014 and 2038, the working age population in rural areas is projected to decline by 75,000 people, while the population aged over 65 will grow by about 1.5 million.