City dwellers who dream of a life in the country, and the trend for television shows to follow the fortunes of fledgeling property investors, are fuelling demand in the West.

And while the trend of buying weekend homes away from the hullabaloo of city life continues, growing numbers of people are also choosing to spend their retirement in the western counties. With the availability of more affordable property than in the South East, the area has profited from the influx.

Fed up with life in London, growing numbers of middle-class families are heading west for more space, better education for their children and a quieter pace of life. Most are relying on equity from their expensive homes in London and the South East to boost their spending power in parts of the country where property has been comparitively cheaper.

Today’s report by the Halifax shows the extent to which their spending power has transformed provincial property markets in some of the most beautiful parts of the country.

Of the 20 counties with the strongest house price increases since 1996, 4 are in the South West and 13 in Wales. Shropshire, in the western Midlands, which is increasingly popular with City fund managers looking for a career change, is also on the list.

The exodus is made possible by better technology. Nobody needs to know you are on the beach if you remember to pack your BlackBerry.

Improved transport links have also added to the effect. Airports in Cardiff and Newquay make travel easier to parts of the country previously hard to reach.

One Cornish developer is building a block of “surf pods” — tiny holiday flats — in Newquay that will be directly marketed at City boys wanting to catch the waves at the weekend.

The extra cash flooding into the West has changed more than the property market. New families escaping the rat race have brought their metropolitan lifestyles with them.

While we can all delight in a new Marks & Spencer opening in Truro and the local Spar selling extra virgin olive oil, there is always the danger that urban emigrés will end up recreating exactly the same environment that they once tried so hard to escape.

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