Although a ‘rural premium’ exists across the country, rural homes are comparitively much more expensive in some areas than others, suggests the Halifax housing index.

The greatest difference is in the West Midlands where the average rural house price (£280,776) is 47% (£89,272) higher than in the region’s urban areas (£191,504).

The smallest difference is in the East of England, where there average premium on countryside homes drops to £27,765 (or 9%).

Property in rural areas is less affordable than in urban areas, with the property price in rural areas 7.6 times average annual earnings.

This compares to a ratio of 6.5 in urban areas.

All 10 of the least affordable rural local authority districts are in southern England, where North Dorset is the least affordable rural district with an average house price of £361,603.

This is 11.4 times local annual average earnings (£31,723).

The second least affordable area is Chichester with and average house price of £411,547 (10.8 times), followed by West Oxfordshire (9.9 times).

To read more on this article from the Rural Services Network please click here.