Zoopla reveals Britain’s best value commuter towns as 2.8% annual train fare price hike kicks in

6th January 2020

 

• Grays in Essex tops the list as the best value commuter spot for London with combined annual costs of £15,008 for a mortgage and season ticket

• Elsewhere, Wolverhampton is best value option for Birmingham; Hindley is the top location for Manchester, and Dunfermline is the most cost-effective option for Edinburgh

 

As the annual train season ticket price hike comes into effect, Zoopla, the UK’s most comprehensive property destination, can reveal the most affordable towns for commuters looking to live within an hour’s travel time of five of Britain’s largest cities.  

 

London:

Grays in Essex takes first place for those looking to commute into London by offering the cheapest combined annual mortgage and season ticket costs of £15,008 with 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. Crayford in Kent follows closely in third with a combined price of £15,662 (41-minute commute). 

 

Bristol:

For commuters to Bristol, across the water in Wales, Newport (Gwent) comes in first place with combined costs of £10,166 and a travel time of 35 minutes into Bristol Temple Meads station. Highbridge & Burnham  (£11,595, 53-minute commute) and Bridgwater (£11,975, 59-minute commute) place second and third respectively. 

 

Birmingham:

Heading up to Birmingham, Wolverhampton presents the best value (£7,483) with a commute time of 20 minutes. 

 

Manchester:

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. 

 

Edinburgh:

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.

 

Laura Howard, Consumer Expert at Zoopla comments: “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. 

 

“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.

 

“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.”

 

-ENDS-

 

London’s most affordable commuter towns (ranked by cost)

Source: Zoopla, January 2020

 

Bristol’s most affordable commuter towns (ranked by cost)

Source: Zoopla, January 2020

 

Birmingham’s most affordable commuter towns (ranked by cost)

Source: Zoopla, January 2020

 

Manchester’s most affordable commuter towns (ranked by cost)

Source: Zoopla, January 2020

 

Edinburgh’s most affordable commuter towns (ranked by cost)

Source: Zoopla, January 2020

 

 

 

- Ends -

For further information, please contact PR Team on pr@zoopla.co.uk or +44 (0)20 3873 8770.

Notes to editors 

 

Zoopla analysed average mortgage and season ticket costs across a number of local authority areas that surround five of Britain’s largest cities to establish which locations within an hour’s travel time represent the best value to commute in from. Mortgage costs are based on two and three bedroomed properties mortgaged at a 2% interest rate for 25 years, with an 85% LTV. 

 

Times and the 2020 annual railcard costs were taken from National Rail website here: http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/service/seasonticket/search 

For further information:

Tim Vooght, Zoopla 

0203 873 8770 

pr@zoopla.co.uk 

 

About Zoopla

The Zoopla Limited property division includes some of the UK's leading property portal, software, marketing and data insights brands that help property professionals market their properties, promote their brand, make informed decisions and manage their business efficiently. Our websites and apps attract over 50 million visits per month and over 25,000 business partners use our range of services.

 

• Zoopla is the UK's most comprehensive property portal, helping consumers research the market and find their next home by combining hundreds of thousands of property listings with market data and local information. 

• PrimeLocation is one of the UK's leading property websites, helping house-hunters in the middle / upper tiers of the market to find their dream home from the top estate and letting agents and property developers.

• SmartNewHomes is the UK's leading website dedicated exclusively to new builds, helping buyers understand the market and search for new build homes from all the leading property developers across the country.

• Hometrack and Calcasa are leading providers of automated property valuations and statistical property market insights in the UK and the Netherlands to partners including mortgage lenders, developers, investors, government agencies, housing associations and others.

• Alto, Jupix and Expert Agent are some of the leading cloud-based estate agency and property management software systems used by thousands of property professionals across the UK for the day-to-day management of inventory, marketing and communications.

• PropertyFile is used by estate agents to improve communication and efficiency with their customers and to allow them to generate additional revenue streams via referrals.

• TechnicWeb specialises in designing, developing, hosting and operating fully-responsive websites for the property sector.

• Ravensworth is a leading provider of print and design solutions to estate agencies and developers, offering a comprehensive range of products and services for every stage of the property marketing journey from listing through to post-sale.

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