DEMAND for rural retreats in areas like the Westcountry has plummeted by 60 per cent as lifestyle buyers are no longer able to afford "play farms".

At the height of the economic boom, London City workers with fat bonuses were splashing out on farmland to pursue their dreams of the good life.

The influx caused an artificial inflation of prices for such land, which largely priced local buyers out of the market.

Many used the rural retreats as secondary residences, and those who did not contribute to the countryside lifestyle were criticised for speeding the demise of remote economies.

But now, according to figures from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), such land is no longer in demand. Surveyors reported a sharp decrease in demand for residential farmland throughout the latter half of last year, from –3 per cent to –64 per cent.

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