Leaving London: everything you need to know about living in Oxford from house prices and commute times to best schools

Big enough to bustle, but small enough to feel comfortable and community spirited, Oxford is a prime choice for buyers leaving London.

It's one of the UK’s most beautiful – but also most expensive — cities.

The city of dreaming spires sits in a sweet spot between the Chilterns and the Cotswolds and as 16,000 tourists a day will attest, is glorious to look at.

THE COMMUTE

Trains from Oxford to Paddington take from 58 minutes, and an annual season ticket costs £5,932. From Paddington, with Crossrail on the cards, there will be fast links to the West End and City. From Oxford Parkway, the new station north of Oxford city centre, Marylebone trains take from an hour and eight minutes, and an annual ticket costs £5,824.

MARKET FORCES

Prices in the city are comfortably keeping pace with inflation, up 3.3 per cent in the last year to an average of £427,235, according to the UK House Price Index.

For those with capital to invest from a London sale, now could be a good time to nab a prime Oxford home.

Daniel Parrott, associate director of Strutt & Parker, says Brexit worries are to blame for a “very slow” market, as buyers wait to see what, if any, deal can be struck with Europe.

Another problem stifling the top end of the market is stamp duty. Chris Dixey, director of Breckon & Breckon estate agents, says tax increases have “taken the froth off” the top end of Oxford’s market — traditionally north of the city centre.

This has stemmed the flow of international buyers, who must pay a three per cent stamp duty surcharge on a second home. At the lower end of the market, however, sales are brisk.

HOUSE HUNTING

More than half of Daniel Parrott’s clients are London families keen to relocate, and those who intend to keep working in the capital tend to see proximity to Oxford station as their main priority, so they focus on north Oxford.

The most expensive area per square foot here is cute, bohemian Jericho, with all the shops and restaurants you could want on the doorstep.

Homes tend to be small, which keeps prices down. Expect to pay about £600,000 for a two-bedroom Victorian terrace, or £350,000-£400,000 for a one-bedroom flat. Leafier Summertown is full of fine Victorian and Edwardian houses. A three-bedroom terrace would cost £750,000 to £1 million.

In the quiet suburb of Cumnor a mile or two west of central Oxford you could buy a four- to five-bedroom Twenties or Thirties detached house for £600,000-£700,000.

Of course Oxford now has two stations and there is investment going on around Oxford Parkway, beyond north Oxford. Here a large three- to four-bedroom detached post-war house would cost between £700,000 and £800,000.

WHAT’S NEW?

Plans were unveiled this summer for Oxford North, a 64-acre “gateway” to the city which will bring up to 500 new homes plus offices, a hotel and shops.

There’s little in the way of new homes in the city centre, although to the east of the city Grosvenor has started work on 94-acre Barton Park, a new neighbourhood 20 minutes’ cycle ride from the city centre, with up to 885 new homes, a primary school, a park and shop.

Homes in the current phase, Mosaics Oxford, start at £362,500 for a two-bedroom flat, while a three-bedroom house is £585,000.

OXFORD’S UPSIDES

There are masses of shops, bars, pubs and restaurants in the High Street and around Cornmarket and Queen Streets, plus several theatres and cinemas including a great art house cinema in Jericho, and a walkable city centre stacked with gorgeous buildings.

Oxford Botanic Garden is stunning, countryside rings the city and the atmosphere in town is at once lively and cosmopolitan yet safe and family friendly.

DOWNSIDES

There is little value housing to be had, particularly in walking distance of the station. There are quality Victorian and Edwardian houses but a lack of quality period flats. Some parts of south and west Oxford are prone to flooding, so check carefully before you buy.

SCHOOLS

Education is obviously a key reason to move to this city. The vast majority of Oxford’s primary schools have “good” reports from the Ofsted government schools watchdog. For older pupils The Cherwell School is “outstanding” according to Ofsted, while Matthew Arnold School and The Oxford Academy both get a “good” rating.