Where to buy for commutes under an hour to London: 19 towns with sub 60-minute trains and homes under £550,000

Buyers searching for commuter homes within an hour's train journey of the capital should start their search with these top 19 towns. 
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Ruth Bloomfield30 October 2020

Most buyers who aim to commute into London by train want a journey of less than an hour.

There are almost 20 options within this time frame, which also have family houses under £550,000.

They include affluent Tonbridge, with its access to Kent's grammar school system, and arty Leigh-on-Sea in Essex.

Commuter towns with sub 60-minute trains to London

Local train station and county Commute time (minutes) Annual season ticket Average house price
Fleet, Hampshire  46 £4,196 £526,581
Egham, Surrey 46 £2,924  £523,355
Tonbridge, Kent  46 £4,488  £456,657
Godalming, Surrey 46 £4,012  £517,286
Milford, Surrey 47 £4,048  £538,569
Ware, Herts 47 £2,960 £461,221
Leigh-on-Sea, Essex 47 £3,612  £483,667
Wendover, Bucks 48 £3,424  £545,435
Saunderton, Bucks 49 £3,852 £537,921
Wraysbury, Berkshire 49 £3,008 £546,121
Winchfield, Hampshire  51 £4,292  £451,645
Hertford East, Herts 51 £2,960  £531,509
Sunnymeads, Berkshire 52 £3,096  £490,641
Lingfield, Surrey 52 £2,804  £460,308
Hertford North, Herts 52 £2,944  £528,608
Hook, Hampshire 53 £4,368 £485,198
Hassocks, West Sussex  53 £4,668  £506,469
Frant, East Sussex  58 £4,928  £494,182
Kintbury, Berkshire  59 £5,272 £501,070

Data source: Savills/Land Registry

Godalming, Surrey, is five miles up the train line from swanky Guildford and considerably more affordable for first timers, with a two- to three-bedroom period house or a three- to four-bedroom modern house for less than £500,000.

With "good" and "outstanding" schools, and proximity to the Surrey Hills and Winkworth Arboretum, Godalming is family friendly.

It is also pretty, with cute shops and cafés on its narrow town centre streets, as well as a Waitrose and everyday shops.

Since this is Surrey, there is a choice of golf clubs, a leisure centre with a pool and gym, plus a lido in Guildford, plenty of riding stables and several dozen sports clubs, from cricket to croquet and canoeing.

Just along the coast from Southend in Essex, Leigh-on-Sea has been luring Londoners with its heady combination of affordable Victorian houses, great beaches nearby and an increasingly impressive range of cafés, shops, restaurants and pubs along its Broadway.

A three-bedroom Victorian terrace house with sea views from a converted loft room is for sale in Queens Road for £500,000. Through Bear Estate Agents.

Wendover, in Buckinghamshire, has a charming high street that is a patchwork of mismatched cottages.

Wendover Woods has 800 acres for walking and cycling and there’s a yoga studio plus tennis, squash, cricket and golf clubs. The town retains a friendly, villagey, vibrant feel and kids can sit the 11-plus for Aylesbury’s grammar schools.

There are Victorian cottages, semis, Sixties and Seventies houses and, in the centre, some lovely Georgian-fronted townhouses.

Two- and three-bedroom houses in the centre of the village cost between £500,000 and £600,000.

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