The South West is the hardest region for first-time buyers in the countryside, with seven of the 10 least affordable rural areas in the UK.

A report released by Halifax yesterday revealed the true extent of difficulties faced by first-timers not wishing to live in cities or towns.

It showed North Devon was the least affordable rural area in the UK, with property prices averaging 9.1 times annual local earnings. South Somerset was the ninth on the list, with houses costing 8.2 times as much as average local pay.

Cornwall has three, and Devon a further two in the top 10 areas in which housing costs more than eight times local pay averages.

Even the most affordable rural location in the entire country at Copeland in Cumbria has a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.9 times local salaries. With most lenders only willing to advance mortgages of three times a borrower's pay, that is still way out of reach of most buying their first homes.

Homes in the country cost 15 per cent more than properties in urban areas, pricing many first-time buyers out of the market.

The average cost of a home in a rural area of Britain is £235,324, compared with £204,290 in towns and cities according to Halifax.

Lower wages in rural areas exacerbate the problem of affordability, with homes costing an average of 7.3 times average annual local earnings, compared with 6.1 times annual pay in towns.

People buying their first home account for just 21 per cent of all buyers in rural areas, compared with 37 per cent in urban areas.

Their share of the market is even smaller in some local authorities in the South West.

First-time buyers account for just seven per cent of all buyers in South Hams in Devon, 14 per cent in North Devon and the Cotswolds, while in East Dorset, the figure is 16 per cent.

The problem is aggravated by a lack of social housing in rural areas, with this accounting for just 13 per cent of the rural housing stock, compared with 20 per cent in towns and cities. Wealden in East Sussex has the lowest proportion of social housing out of all rural areas, at just seven per cent of all homes.

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

"The difficulties for home buyers in rural locations are particularly acute among first-time buyers and are exacerbated by relatively low levels of social housing provision."

Chiltern in Buckinghamshire is the most expensive rural local authority, with average house prices of £448,635.

It is followed by Waverley and Tandridge, both in Surrey, at £396,605 and £367,016 respectively.

Eight of the 10 most expensive rural areas to buy properties are in the South East, with Uttlesford in Essex and East Hertfordshire, both classed as being in the East, the only areas outside of the South East to make it on to the list.