People could save £450,000 (60%) on the average cost of a house by simply moving out of London

According to research by Lloyds bank, people working in London could save themselves almost £450,000 or 60% on the cost of a house if they chose to live outside of the city and commute into London every day.

The study shows that average house prices drop by 60% from £741,919 in central London to £294,903 in towns such as Wellingborough and Chatham that are only an hour away from London.

Lloyds continue to say that even when taking into account the typical annual rail cost for a one-hour daily commute each way at £4,989, a commuter would have to make the same journey for 89 years for the total rail costs to wipe out the benefit in house prices.

The top 5 most affordable commuter towns outside of London for house prices are:

⦁ Wellingborough in Northamptonshire
⦁ Peterborough in Cambridgeshire
⦁ Kettering in Northamptonshire
⦁ Chatham in Kent
⦁ Swindon in Wiltshire

In Wellingborough in Northamptonshire is seen as the most affordable commuter town, where the average house price of £183,345 is 4.1 times the average annual earnings for central London workers. The next most affordable town outside of London is Peterborough in Cambridgeshire where the average house price is 4.2 times the typical annual earnings in London, at £189,319.

If you don’t wish to be that far from London, then towns such as Hatfield, Billericay, Orpington and Reading are only about 40 minutes away from London. In these towns you could potentially save 48% or £353,000 compared to London’s house prices. The average house prices in these towns is around £389,000 and with a lower average annual rail pass cost at £3,534.

Andrew Mason, Lloyds Bank mortgage products director, said:

“Commuters to London who don’t mind a longer journey between home and work could reap the financial benefits of living outside of the capital.”

“However, the decision of whether to live in the city or further away is not simply a trade-off between financial costs and journey times. Quality of life is also a major factor: family circumstances, better schools, physical environment and homes that offer better value for money also come into the equation,”

Mr Mason continued:

“That explains why, especially outside London, commuters are often prepared to pay a premium to commute when they could be better off in purely financial terms living closer to their place of work.”

Why not sell your London home and move outside of the city to save yourself a lot of money. Why not ask National Homebuyers for advice, as we buy any house. Call 08000 443 911 or request a call back to find out how much you could get for your property.

Let our friendly sell house fast team guide you through our quick move now  fast house sale process.

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