Rural areas are witnessing an exodus of people in their thirties, as soaring house prices outstrip incomes.
New figures from the National Housing Federation (NHF) show the number of people aged 30-44 has dropped nearly 9% in the countryside over the last decade, despite numbers rising in urban areas.
The NHF’s analysis found that the number of children under 10 in rural areas has fallen 2%, although numbers have risen 6% elsewhere.
At the same time, the number of over-65s in rural areas has risen 2.5 times faster than in towns and cities.
And the big demographic shifts have been accompanied by a huge increase in countryside housing costs.
House prices have nearly doubled in ten years, up 82% from £126,016 to £228,742.
Wages, however, have not kept pace, rising 17% slower in rural areas than in urban areas over the last five years.
Of the ten rural areas across England with the biggest rise in house prices, only three have seen an increase in under-45s over the last ten years: Richmondshire, West Lyndsey and Cornwall.
Meanwhile of the ten areas with the biggest fall in under 45s, all but one, North Warwickshire, saw above-average rises in house prices.
Gill Payne, the NHF’s director of campaigns and neighbourhoods, said: “Young people are being priced out of rural England by rising housing costs and are moving elsewhere to raise their families.
“What will happen to the local shops and pubs, the village school, the small businesses that maintain rural economies, if there’s no-one left to keep them open?
“If we don’t start building more homes that ordinary families can afford, our treasured rural England will become the preserve of the old and wealthy.
“It’s up to all of us to halt this rural decline. Tell your local councillor to say yes to village life and yes to homes.”
The NHF is joining with housing associations around the country to celebrate Rural Housing Week, which runs from 10-16 June and campaigns for the right homes at the right prices in rural communities.