TWO Exmoor properties have gone under the hammer for a total of £590,000 in separate sales - one to a consortium looking for a holiday home and the other to a buyer from Sussex.

The sale of the Old School House at Oareford for £300,000 and of a run-down farmhouse near Dulverton for £290,000 almost coincided with a report raising fears that local people are being priced off the local property ladder.

As reported last week, Exmoor National Park Authority's fifth annual house price survey found that the average price of a house on Exmoor was now £245,000, an increase of 42 per cent on the same time last year.

And it found that more affluent buyers from the South East were pushing prices up by looking for second homes and retirement properties in the area.

Local estate agents report an insatiable demand for homes in the national park under the £400,000 mark and those that do go on the market are usually sold within a matter of days.

Just such a sale took place on August 21 when well over 100 people packed into the Anchor Inn, Exebridge - one of the largest crowds seen for a property auction on Exmoor for two and a half years, said estate agents Stags.

The stone farmhouse, standing in an acre of "jungle" between Bridgetown and Winsford Hill, was in need of complete renovation.

But it attracted so much interest that auctioneers Stags had to reprint the sales details twice over and over 950 copies were distributed.

In the run-up to the sale, about 400 people viewed the farmhouse which could be converted into a four-bedroom home.

Its guide price of £170,000 was soon left behind as bidding rose swiftly to £270,000.

A new bidder then entered the fray, but an equally determined family from Sussex bought the property for £290,000.

A similar number of bidders competed for the Old School House, being sold for the first time in 55 years ago.

Standing close to Robbers Bridge, the house has gardens and views over the moor - and a Victorian schoolroom on the east side.

Again, the price guide, £260,000, was soon passed as four people battled it out until the property was sold for £300,000 to a consortium of three families who intend to share it as a holiday home.

The park's draft local plan, currently being revised, contains several measures designed to clamp-down on second homes and maintain a pool of homes restricted solely for the use of local people.

It attracted 1,032 responses when it was first published, with the vast majority overwhelmingly in favour of the protective steps being proposed by officers.

Anyone buying a property with the sole intention of using it as an occasional weekend retreat would have to apply for planning permission for change of use.

For new homes, national park officers estimate that property value could be reduced by at least 30 per cent by attaching a local occupancy legal agreement to planning permission.

This would allow such properties to be sold to first-time buyers, as the homes tend to be small and therefore cheaper.

The park authority has also appointed its first rural housing enabler, Trudy Robinson.

She has been carrying out housing needs surveys in conjunction with local communities to provide detailed information on the need for new affordable housing.

Last week, she said: "The house price survey shows how important it is that this project succeeds in engaging local people and developing support to ensure that affordable housing is provided where it is needed."

Following the sales of the farmhouse and Old School House, Stags' auctioneer James Green said it was "wonderful" to see so many people at the auction and for the properties to sell at figures beyond all expectations.

"The sales demonstrate the benefits of a regional and national marketing campaign, which included advertisements in Country Life and the Sunday Times, and the strength of marketing by auction," he said.