A shortage of affordable homes is pricing young farmers out of the Devon countryside, warns a coalition of the National Housing Federation, National Farmers' Union and the National Federation of Young Farmers' Clubs.

Even with the recent drop in house prices,the last decade has seen house prices in the countryside more than double, with the average home in Devon now costing £245,000, while the average salary for those who work there has risen by much less to only £21,000. Click to see average house prices in Devon here.

With property prices in the South West being more expensive than most of the country, the affordable housing shortage is becoming a threat to the Westcountry's traditional rural life. The National Housing Federation's chief executive, David Orr, 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."

The Young Farmers cited high house prices, outbidding by developers and the difficulty of getting land approved for development as causes.

The National Housing Federation's researchers found that one in five people living in the English countryside thought that there were more second homes in their communities than there were five years ago, while 31% thought that second-home owners had a negative impact on community life, with village pubs, shops and schools closing as local families are priced out of their communities.

Their figures show 750,000 people currently on waiting lists for affordable housing, with an estimated 100,000 affordable homes needing to be built in rural areas within the next 10 years.

Click here for our list of housing associations in Devon.