Britain’s ‘best value’ commuter towns revealed

The property website Zoopla has published a list of the most affordable towns for commuters looking to live within an hour’s travel time of five of Britain’s largest cities.  

Grays in Essex tops the list as the best value commuter location for London with combined annual costs of £15,008 for a mortgage and season ticket for a 41-minute commute into Fenchurch Street station.

Leagrave in Bedfordshire places second, where home-owning commuters can travel to the capital in 55 minutes at a total annual cost of £15,399.

And Crayford in Kent follows closely in third with a combined price of £15,662 and 41-minute commute.

The report by the website names Wolverhampton as the best value option for Birmingham with combined costs of £7,483 and a commute time of 20 minutes.

For commuters to Bristol, Newport in Gwent comes in first place with combined costs of £10,166 and a travel time of 35 minutes into Bristol Temple Meads station.

Moving further north to Manchester, Hindley is the town that takes the top-spot with combined costs of £6,883 and a 58-minute journey.

Meanwhile, those working in Edinburgh should consider moving to Dunfermline to get the most affordable commute (32-minute journey). Here a combined annual mortgage and season ticket will cost £7,530 a year.

‘As the new season ticket prices come into effect this month, much to the frustration of millions of commuters across Britain, those looking to relocate to save money should pay close attention to these figures,’ said Zoopla’s consumer expert, Laura Howard.

‘The past decade has seen significant property price growth in prime London commuter belt towns, but despite this our analysis still picks out pockets across South East England that represent affordable value for commuters,’ added Ms Howard.

‘Areas outside London and the South East are generally more affordable, but commuters can still save money on their daily travel into the likes of Birmingham and Bristol by looking at towns they might not have yet considered, but still have good transport links.’

Photo Credit – Shutterbug75 (Pixabay)