Commuter homes in the South West: new electric trains cutting journey times to London from hipster-friendly Bath, Bristol and Oxford

Stretching the commuter belt to include Bath, Bristol, Banbury and Oxford, “the biggest timetable change on the network since 1976” will come into force on December 15, says Great Western Railways (GWR).

Electrification of the Great Western main line between London and South Wales has been expensive and delayed, but the £5 billion project will also upgrade signals and introduce new trains and more express services.

Journeys to and from the Unesco World Heritage city of Bath, the university cities of Oxford and Bristol, and the Oxfordshire market town of Banbury will all be faster.

The Oxford-London commute will take from just 44 minutes. Bristol will take from an hour and eight minutes from Bristol Parkway station north of the city centre, with trains to Bristol Temple Meads in the centre taking from an hour and 19 minutes. Paddington to Bath Spa is cut to an hour and 14 minutes.

“The changes turn a barely bearable London commute into a very do-able option,” says Charlie Taylor, a partner at Knight Frank in Bath. “With Crossrail arriving in Paddington, getting to your office quickly once you’ve arrived also makes a big difference.”

Estate agents believe the faster journeys will appeal to buyers not ready to give up city life, even if they are priced out of London.

An annual season ticket from Bristol Parkway or Temple Meads comes in at £12,788; Bath Spa £10,968; Oxford £6,120 per year, and Banbury £6,840.

None of these figures include the inevitable New Year price hike.

Charlie Taylor anticipates a spike in interest in Georgian Bath, with its immaculate period terraces and family-friendly suburbs, where house prices close to the station have grown 24 per cent over five years.

Bath has a lively city centre, plentiful green space and excellent schools. But the centre isn’t cheap, and you will pay a premium for Georgian architecture.

A four-bedroom townhouse close to the centre will set you back £1 million to £1.5 million.

In lovely suburbs such as Widcombe or Larkhall, a similar-sized Victorian property is about £650,000.

In bigger, trendier Bristol, daily commuters will likely want to live close to Bristol Temple Meads, but the city centre has a lack of family houses.

With the focus on small starter flats, Rightmove is currently listing just six houses within a half-mile of the station. Buyers who want a family house need to look at Totterdown, just south of the station.

This charming area has Victorian railway workers’ terrace houses and a hipster-friendly vibe, some great local pubs and restaurants plus several parks, and the city centre is close by.

A three-bedroom terrace in Totterdown costs £350,000 to £400,000.

For larger homes you must accept a longer walk to the station. Or search the suburbs around Bristol Parkway, in areas such as villagey Hambrook, just over a mile from the station. And there are some lovely country-style houses on the city fringes.

Bath and Bristol are seeing much stronger property price growth than London, where prices have slowed since 2016 with five-year growth of 19 per cent; around Bristol Temple Meads they’ve seen 46 per cent.

North of Oxford, Banbury will get additional GWR services taking from an hour and eight minutes to London.

With the River Cherwell running through the town and the Cotswolds on the doorstep, there’s an affluent market town vibe.

Narrow streets and alleys in the centre are packed with interesting shops, cafés and restaurants, plus a lively street market.

Average prices are appealing at £237,000, although the housing stock is disappointing for such a pretty town.

There are pockets of Victorian and even Georgian homes, but too many identikit red-brick executive homes that are not going to get a London leaver’s heart fluttering.

“Banbury has always drawn people from Oxford and London, which has definitely increased,” says Simon Round, co-owner of Round & Jackson estate agents.

“It is a nice, friendly town, a lot less expensive than Oxford. We get a lot of families moving out from London suburbs, and if they come to Banbury it won’t take them any longer to get to work.”

The dreaming spires of Oxford have long exerted a magnetic pull on Londoners.

Like Bath, this is not a budget option, particularly if you want to live in posh North Oxford, with its multimillion-pound villas, or bohemian Jericho, where a two-up two-down costs around £600,000.

Oxford price growth over the past five years has been just under three per cent in homes within two kilometres of the station.

Prices in the city centre were already extremely high and have plateaued.

Suburbs such as Botley and Grandpont are better value with greater potential for growth, where a three-bedroom Victorian terrace will cost £550,000. Improved transport will benefit these less-expensive parts of Oxford.