Revealed: London’s new affordable commuter towns

The golden age of working from home has faded. With jobs forcing employees back into the office, workers that fled London during the pandemic are being forced back into their metropolitan routines – the crack-of-dawn morning alarms, the furious traffic jams, the late-running trains that pack people in like sardines and ship us to our nine-to-fives. And to top it all off, finding a decent, affordable home is a competitive, gut wrenching nightmare. 

And here comes the other problem: commuter towns that were once affordable pre-pandemic, like Reading, St. Albans and Woking, are filling up fast and catching up with London’s inflated pricing, so where can commuters go now? 

‘Britain’s traditional commuter belts have shrunk back down after the pandemic, but they are not as compact as they were before,’ Savills employee Frances McDonald told The Guardian this month. He also added that new infrastructure like the Lizzy Line has helped better connect western counties to central and east London offices. 

So where are these new spaces? Savills researched rail station use and 2025 housing prices to find new, nearby havens for commuters to London. 

First up, Iver in Buckinghamshire has a 24-minute travel time into London Paddington with a £2,868 season ticket cost and average housing price of £539,575. The Lizzy line can stop at Iver and take workers all the way to Canary Wharf in under an hour. 

Shenfield in Essex comes second with a 23-minute commute to Liverpool Street, an annual season ticket cost of £4,008 and an average housing price of £656,159. Trains arrive almost every five minutes, and you're a stones throw away from Butterfly Meadow, a lush little refuge for personal space after a busy commute back.

Twyford in Berkshire comes second with a speedy 30-minute train time to London Paddington, an annual season ticket cost of £4,764, and average housing price of £553,597. Charming shops and cafes can be found in this little county near Reading. It's a little pricier, but you get more bang for your buck, here and you're even within walking distance from Stanlake Park Wine Estate. 

These are the new, most affordable commuter towns, according to Savills 

1. Iver, Buckinghamshire – Train time: 24 minutes to Paddington; annual season ticket cost is £2,868; average housing price in 2025 is £539,575
   
   
2. Shenfield, Essex – Train time: 23 minutes to Liverpool Street; annual season ticket cost is £2,868; average housing price in 2025 is £656,159
   
   
3. Twyford, Berkshire – Train time: 30 minutes to Paddington; annual season ticket cost is £4,764; average housing price in 2025 is £553,597
   
   
4. Prittlewell, Essex – Train time is 55 minutes into Liverpool Street; annual season ticket cost is £16,228; average house price in 2025 is £295,326
   
   
5. Folkestone West, Kent – Train time is 52 minutes into St Pancras International; annual season ticket cost is £7,180; average house price in 2025 is £310,304
6. Colchester, Essex – Train time is 47 minutes into Liverpool Street; annual season ticket cost is £6,700; average house price in 2025 is £285,722
   
   
7. Sandy, Bedfordshire – Train time is 49 minutes into St. Pancras; annual season ticket cost is £6,152; average house price in 2025 is £310,337
   
   
8. Corby, Northamptonshire – Train time is 71 minutes into St. Pancras; annual season ticket cost is £10,624; average house price in 2025 is £225,245
   
   
9. Retford, Nottinghamshire – Train time is 87 minutes into Kings Cross; annual season ticket cost is £14,504; average house price in 2025 is £212,487
   
   
10. Doncaster, South Yorkshire – Train time is 91 minutes into Kings Cross; annual season ticket cost is £16,024; average house price in 2025 is £148,803
    
    
11. Gloucester, Gloucestershire – Train time is 100 minutes into London Paddington; annual season ticket cost is £16,228; average house price in 2025 is £224,850

Did you see that 20,000 new homes are being built in a new riverside east London neighbourhood?

Plus: One of London’s biggest office buildings is getting transformed into a new neighbourhood.

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