YOUNG people are being priced out of living in the countryside because of a shortage of affordable homes, a coalition of farming and housing groups warns today.

House prices in rural England have more than doubled in the past decade to average £256,698, but the average salary for people working in the countryside is only £21,000.

The National Housing Federation, the National Farmers Union and the National Federation of Young Farmers’ Clubs say high housing costs mean the vast majority of people in rural areas have little hope of ever being able to afford to buy a property where they live.

The groups warn that the lack of affordable housing poses a threat to rural life.

Research carried out for the National Housing Federation found that 65 per cent of people in rural England thought local families and young people were being priced out of villages and market towns by the cost of property.

David Orr, chief executive of the federation, said: ‘‘Unless we build more affordable homes for the local families who sustain and enrich village life, then we must accept that traditional community life will be wiped out within a generation in many areas.”