The value of a home in the commuter belt around London rises by more than £3,000 for every minute it is closer to the capital by train, according to new research. In the biggest survey yet into house prices in the commuter zone, Savills estate agency surveyed the immediate areas around 314 stations surrounding the capital but outside the suburbs and examined 100,000 sales recorded by the Land Registry in 2015. It found that house prices have risen by a third since 2013, when analysts looked at a much smaller sample and found proximity to London weighted house prices by £1,937 for every minute of journey time into the capital saved. Savills calculates that today’s figure is £3,048 per minute.
In the 60 to 69-minute commuting range the most expensive place to live was close to the station in Great Shelford, Cambridge, where the average price of a property is £622,451. The cheapest is near Southend Central, Essex, where the average price is £188,534. However, you pay not just for journey time but location. Cambridge has the university, classic buildings, a beautiful river and rolling countryside. Southend does not. Commuterland is particularly attractive to young families. Alexei Ghavami, 34, a PR executive, and his wife, Alice, 34, who works in a special school, swapped their £450,000 one-bedroom flat in Hoxton, east London, for a £452,000 three-bedroom house in Redhill, Surrey, 12 minutes from the local station. Alexei commutes to Chelsea Harbour, southwest London, and Alice to Swiss Cottage, north London. “The quickest journey is 38 minutes, the average is 45 minutes,” he said. “We planned that it was crucial that we can get to where we work within an hour.” There are other advantages: “I bought in Hoxton when I was 23. A lot of the age demographic there is people between 20 and 35 so I probably left at the right time. Moving to Redhill, I actually feel young again.” It looks as if this commuter premium is likely to increase. Over the next five years, prices for prime properties in the outer suburbs of London are predicted to rise by 25%, inner commuter areas (up to 30 minutes from the centre) by 24% and outer commuter (up to an hour) by 23%. Mainstream London prices, by comparison, are likely to rise by 15%. This article originally appeared on The Sunday Times.