COUNCIL leaders insist help is being given to first-time buyers to allow them to get a foot on the property ladder in the UK’s most expensive rural area.

Members of South Oxfordshire District Council moved to reassure new buyers following the release of figures showing that the district has the highest house prices of any rural council area in the UK.

As reported in yesterday’s Oxford Mail, figures produced by the Halifax show the average price of a home in the district is £388,326 – 26 per cent higher than the same report found last year.

Experts say a combination of desirable large properties, proximity to London and beautiful locations have combined to send values spiralling.

But council leaders are keen to stress how much is being done to help hard-pressed first-time buyers get a foot on the property ladder.

James Gesner, a partner at Lesters estate agents, in Didcot, said: “There are a lot of big properties which pull up the average price and there aren’t many smaller houses in the villages.

“There are few properties at the bottom end of the market for first-time buyers – there are more available in Didcot and Wantage but fewer in Wallingford.”

Daniel Parrott, manager of the Wallingford branch of agents Buckell & Ballard, said South Oxfordshire had an abundance of “aspirational” homes for those looking to live in the country and work in London.

He added: “There are huge volumes of London commuters living within a five-mile radius of Didcot Parkway train station, wanting to buy into the rural lifestyle while still being able to easily reach their job in the city.

“Another major factor is that many of the towns and villages in south Oxfordshire are on the Thames, which give them much greater appeal.”

South Oxfordshire District Council has pledged to build thousands of homes around Didcot in an attempt to ease the shortage in the area and make property more affordable.

Plans for housing, contained in the council’s draft core strategy were discussed by the cabinet on Tuesday, with the full council set to make a final decision when it meets at the council headquarters in Crowmarsh Gifford, near Wallingford, at 6pm tonight.

In Didcot, work has started on the 3,300-home Great Western Park, 650 homes are to be built at Ladygrove East and 300 each at the Orchard Centre extension and Vauxhall Barracks.

But neighbouring parish councils are opposed to major development, questioning whether new homes are actually needed.

Dorothy Brown, cabinet member for housing at the district council, said the authority was doing its utmost to make the district affordable for first-time buyers, including the development of shared ownership properties.

She added: “We might have some of the highest house prices in the area but this means we work even harder to help first-time buyers.”