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The shops and markets clustered around the high street and canal make Camden one of the most colourful of London's neighbourhoods. The area's period homes and loft-style apartments attract a mix of homebuyers.
Revealed: from Reading to Redhill – the top 20 commuter stations
Choose your route. Our exclusive property buyers’ guide shows travel times, costs and house prices.
My design London - Russell Norman
Owner of Polpo, Spuntino and Polpetto restaurants in Soho, and da Polpo and Mishkin's in Covent Garden, restauranteur Russell Norman opens up on his favourite London haunts.
Find a rated tradesman
Want to add value to your property, make your house a home, or sell your place fast? With 1,000s of tradesmen nationwide, rated and recommended by previous customers, this is the smart way to find a reputable tradesman.
Buy of the week: Camden Town
This two-bedroom flat has a pretty park on its doorstep, while buzzing Camden Town is only 10 minutes’ walk away. Big sash windows and high ceilings give a spacious feel and there’s a private garden with a studio/home office (£525,000).
Swap of the week: Willersey, Glouc
This little Cotswolds beauty is just across the road from the village green and duck pond. For £530,000 you get beams, exposed stone walls and an open fireplace, plus four bedrooms, a useful attic room and lush gardens to enjoy.
Life-changer: Trescowe, Cornwall
For a project brimming with potential, what about this coastal home, yours for £545,000? The family space includes six bedrooms, while its collection of outbuildings overlooking an acre of gardens could become income-generating holiday lets.
Spotlight on Camden Town
The shops and markets clustered around the high street and canal make Camden one of the most colourful of London's neighbourhoods. The area's period homes and loft-style apartments attract a mix of homebuyers.
Property search
Price boost for commuterland homes
Super-fast train services are set to boost the prices of commuterland homes. By Ruth Bloomfield
House prices in prime parts of Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Warwickshire are set to soar when new superfast trains from London are launched next year. Chiltern Railways says a £250 million upgrade of its Marylebone to Birmingham line will result in journey times being slashed by about 20 per cent.
Lucian Cook, a director of Savills, predicts the new timetables could prompt a spike in prices. He says house prices on average rise by £1,300 for every minute knocked off a commute. But sought-after detached homes rise by £2,250 for every minute saved.
From next May a journey from Leamington Spa (Warwickshire) to Marylebone, now 85 minutes, will be cut to a more commuter friendly 67 minutes.
Search homes and property for sale in Leamington Spa
Journeys from Banbury (Oxfordshire) — now 67 minutes — will fall to 53 minutes, while a trip from Bicester (Oxfordshire) will fall from 56 to 45 minutes.
Search homes and property for sale in Banbury
Search homes and property for sale in Bicester
The commute from Haddenham (Buckinghamshire) will be cut from 44 minutes to 35, while a journey from High Wycombe (Buckinghamshire) will fall from 34 minutes to 25 minutes — a saving of around 90 minutes travel time a week, or about 70 hours in the average working year.
Search homes and property for sale in Haddenham
Search homes and property for sale in High Wycombe
“This means that, in theory, the value of the average house in High Wycombe could be boosted by £11,700, and in Leamington Spa by £23,400,” said Mr Cook. “Prices for a detached house in the two locations could rise by just over £20,000 and £40,000 respectively.”
The change will open up new areas to house hunters looking to move away from the capital. They range from the fairly downbeat town of Bicester, best known for its designer outlet village, to Haddenham, considered one of the prettiest villages in the Home Counties.
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