The Review covers Local Authorities in Great Britain which are defined as rural areas, according to ONS classifications. The Review uses Halifax house price data to calculate rural house price movements.
The average house price in rural Great Britain rose by 96%, or £102,722, from £107,250 in 2000 to £209,972 in 2010 - equivalent to a weekly increase of £198. The rise in rural house prices was also greater than the increase in property prices in urban areas (91%). The average rural house price is now 20% higher than the average urban house price compared to 17% higher in 2000.
Rural homes fared better during the downturn House prices in rural areas experienced smaller house price falls during the recent downturn in the housing market. Rural property prices fell by 20% between 2007 and 2009 compared to a 25% drop in urban areas.
Other key findings:
- Urban property has slightly outperformed rural homes over the past year. Rural property prices rose by 4% between 2009 and 2010 compared with a 5% rise in urban house prices.
- Rural housing affordability has deteriorated in the last ten years. Rural house prices in 2010 are, on average, 6.4 times average gross annual earnings. This is up from 4.6 times average earnings in 2000, but lower than the 8.2 multiple in 2007.
- Rural housing remains less affordable than in urban areas where average prices are 5.4 times average annual earnings.
- There are significantly fewer first-time buyers in rural areas, accounting for 27% of all buyers compared with 45% in urban areas.
- Social housing provision is much lower in rural areas of England.13% of the rural housing stock in England was social housing in 2009 compared with 19% in urban areas.
- House prices across rural parts of the South East rose by 8.9% over the past year, more than any other region. In contrast, the West Midlands recorded a 1.2% price fall.
