Commuter flats in Milton Keynes: new town centre homes near the Grand Union Canal just 40 minutes from London

It's not just families searching for a better quality of life and a cheaper home who are moving out of London.

Young singles and couples working in the capital are heading for the commuter belt at a time when out-of-town developers are trimming prices and offering incentives.

Milton Keynes is a popular combination of more affordable housing and a quick commute.

Created in the Sixties as part of the New Town movement that brought much-needed greenfield housing for Londoners, this architectural curio is being rolled out as a model for the future, being at the heart of the Government’s proposed corridor between Oxford and Cambridge.

One of the UK’s fastest-growing towns, Milton Keynes is about 50 miles from London, with trains to Euston from its glass-clad station taking less than 40 minutes.

Network Rail is headquartered there, while other big employers such as John Lewis and Mercedes-Benz have set up in the town.

The original shopping mall is now listed, while a new stainless-steel extension to the MK Gallery has sparked a reassessment of the quirky original architecture of the New Town where Norman Foster cut his teeth.

The centre was never intended to be densely residential, more a business and shopping zone, but planning priorities have changed and apartment schemes have sprouted up on the doorstep of the train station or within a short stroll.

Campbell Wharf is a marina development on the banks of the Grand Union Canal, which runs through Milton Keynes.

It brings 332 apartments and 51 houses. Prices from £240,000. More info.