London commuter towns and villages: best areas to buy a home under 60 minutes from Zone 1

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Ruth Bloomfield20 February 2019

The formula for a successful move out of London is finding a location where lifestyle, property prices and, increasingly, the cost of the commute will all stack up.

Finding somewhere within an hour of the office where house prices aren’t sky-high, rail fares are below average and there are plenty of lovely homes to choose from, plus good amenities on the doorstep, can seem like a fool’s errand.

But a close study of every commuter option within 60 minutes’ travel of Zone 1 has identified an elite group of towns and villages occupying this sweetest of sweet spots.

Buying in Dorking, Surrey

Gorgeous, quaint, lively and charming, this market town is affordable by Surrey standards, and is also less of a “Little London” than the likes of Oxshott or Guildford. Live in Dorking and you will truly feel the step change from life in the capital.

The commute takes an average 53 minutes to Waterloo, while an annual season ticket costs £3,536.

“I think its appeal is that, despite the fact that it is quite a long commute, you are moving to ‘real’ countryside in Dorking, which is ring-fenced by the Surrey Hills so that there is limited scope for the town to sprawl,” says Alan King, senior partner at Jackson-Stops estate agents.

The town is a magnet for London families, drawn by the excellent schools. The High Street’s good arty and antique shops, a well-developed café culture and Dorking’s excellent restaurants and pubs are a nice bonus.

Real countryside: Dorking is ring-fenced by the Surrey Hills so it's a magnet for commuters despite the 53-minute journey to Waterloo
Alamy Stock Photo

The average property price stands at just under £509,000, which King says would buy a three-bedroom semi in the suburbs or a two-bedroom cottage in the town centre.

The average detached house costs just under £940,000, although in swanky Deepdene you could splash a couple of million on an edge-of-town pile.

Buying in East Grinstead, West Sussex

If you like olde worlde charm, this market town’s pretty High Street full of wonky 14th-century timber frame buildings will certainly grab your attention.

In truth the rest of East Grinstead is less pretty-pretty — think streets of solid Victorian and Edwardian houses close to the centre of town, ringed by more modern developments.

What East Grinstead has in its favour is good facilities and convenience.

Culture is supplied by Chequer Mead Theatre, for drama, music, dance and films, and the town’s stock of restaurants and shops will be augmented by the ongoing redevelopment of a former department store site in the town centre.

Outside the town the Ashdown Forest is close at hand and being located approximately halfway between London and the south coast means days out on the South Downs and in Brighton. Gatwick airport is also a handy 10-minute drive away.

Schools, always a crucial factor in family moves, are excellent, with a strong choice of well-thought-of primaries, and Imberhorne School, for seniors, rated “outstanding” by Ofsted.

The average travel time to London is a slightly tiresome 61 minutes, but East Grinstead was one of the winners in the recent upgrade of the Thameslink line into the capital.

“You can now go straight to London Bridge or Farringdon,” says Duncan Bewley, director of Garnham H Bewley estate agents. “It is great because you can be standing outside the Shard in 45 to 50 minutes.”

An annual season ticket costs £3,584, and commuters willing to make the journey are rewarded with average property prices of under £360,000, which would buy a three- to four-bedroom post-war semi. A similar Victorian home would cost around £400,000.

An average detached house costs just under £530,000.

A three-bedroom semi-detached house in Lingfield, Surrey

Buying in Lingfield, Surrey

Movers looking for a more rural sort of move should check out this small, ancient village just north of the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Known primarily for its racecourse, Lingfield also has a pretty village centre, a parade of useful shops, a couple of pubs, football and cricket clubs and two primary schools, both rated “good” by Ofsted.

Seniors can go on to school in East Grinstead, around four miles away. “There is lots of open countryside around, and it is a very pretty place with a really good sense of community,” says Michelle Cheshire, senior negotiator at Robert Leech estate agents.

The commute to London takes 54 minutes and an annual season ticket costs £3,584. The average property price in the village is just under £470,000 — which Cheshire estimates would buy a three-bedroom Victorian semi-detached house — while a typical detached home costs just under £620,000.

Buying in Earlswood, Surrey

Most people investigating a move out of London will have heard of Redhill and Reigate, the adjoining commuter towns just south of the Surrey Hills.

They might be missing a trick though, because Earlswood, a mile or so to the south of its higher-profile neighbours, is a quality residential suburb with its own station plus a good stock of Victorian and Edwardian homes.

Ashley Bone, director of Ralph James estate agents, often directs Londoners towards Earlswood in preference to Redhill, thanks to its slightly better value for money and its convenience. “Because it is just before Redhill on the line to London you tend to get a seat,” he says.

Local schools are also a draw. All of Earlswood’s primary schools have “good” Ofsted reports, and the nearest option for seniors, Reigate School, is considered “outstanding” by the government schools watchdog.

The compromise here is that Earlswood is very much a residential area without much in the way of amenities, although it does have several pubs and restaurants, while general store Holborn’s is a local institution.

“Redhill is where you go for the essentials, and Reigate is where you go for a bite to eat or a drink,” says Ashley Bone.

For commuters the journey to London takes 43 minutes. An annual season ticket costs £3,664.

The average property price is £430,000, which would secure a three-bedroom semi-detached house.

The average price of a detached house in the area is £779,000 which Bone says would buy a really smart five-bedroom period property in the north of Earlswood, favoured because it is within walking distance of both Redhill and Reigate.