Which of London’s Commuter Towns Are Getting More Popular?

The average house price in London is £701,280, which is £341,532 more expensive than the average house price in the UK, and London continues to be the most expensive region year on year in the UK to buy a house.

The cost of living in London is around £230 more per month than the UK as a whole (without factoring rent or mortgage). It's easy to see why people from London continue to move out of the area to surrounding ‘commuter towns’ and sometimes further.

Compare My Move has analysed its London moving data over the past year and found out which of London’s commuter towns are gaining popularity, and where Londoners prefer to move around the UK.

Where Are Londoners Moving?

The South East was the most popular region to move to in the last year from London, with 33.7% of all London movers ending up in the South East. Being the closest region to London this doesn't come as a surprise, similarly, the East is the second most popular place for London movers with 22.7% of Londoners moving there.

Although there has been a slight drop in people moving out of London overall (0.17%) there has been a significant rise in areas which have a lower average house price, indicating that Londoners who are moving out of London are going to places in which they can save money.

For example, we have seen a 28.7% increase in Londoners moving to Scotland, making them the 6th most popular place up from 8th beating regions that are much closer to London such as the East Midlands and Wales. This rise in Scotland’s popularity is likely due to the fact that there is a massive gulf between the house prices in Scotland and the house prices in London, with London average house prices being over £500,000 more expensive.

The East of England and the South West saw a drop in movers from London of over 7%, with the regions having an average house price of over £400,000.

What Are London's Most Popular Commuter Towns?

Below is a list of the most popular towns and areas in which Londoners move to within commuting distance, ranging from 9 minutes to 70 minutes on the train. The towns are listed by the relative change from 2022 to 2023 to see which areas have become increasingly popular in the last year.

Rank	Place	Relative Change from 2022 (%)	Commute (train)	Average House Price
1	Brighton	0.41	58 minutes	£502,917
2	Reading	1.36	43 minutes	£424,645
3	Croydon	-0.73	16 minutes	£443,931
4	Bromley	-0.28	23 minutes	£576,187
5	Wembley	-0.64	9 minutes	£513,951
6	St. Albans	0.36	18 minutes	£633,175
7	Beckenham	-0.43	23 minutes	£577,606
8	Barnet	0.46	39 minutes	£825,495
9	Cambridge	-0.56	70 minutes	£608,654
10	Enfield	-1.09	33 minutes	£542,814
11	Harrow	1.11	30 minutes	£567,464
12	Richmond	-0.2	24 minutes	£1,018,270
13	Romford	-0.27	39 minutes	£443,123
14	Barking	1.04	40 minutes	£370,839
15	Kingston Upon Thames	0.39	28 minutes	£798,893
16	Guildford	0.09	32 minutes	£608,531
17	Milton Keynes	0.03	44 minutes	£346,761
18	Colchester	0.26	60 minutes	£324,198
19	Ilford	0.44	17 minutes	£469,647
20	Sutton	0.61	32 minutes	£524,097
21	Chelmsford	0.08	34 minutes	£402,178
22	Orpington	-0.64	42 minutes	£610,259
23	Brentford	0.19	30 minutes	£725,929
24	Surbiton	-0.94	17 minutes	£646,982
25	Twickenham	-0.17	28 minutes	£761,266
26	Tunbridge Wells	-0.95	53 minutes	£572,092
27	New Malden	0.07	22 minutes	£730,714
Average			33 minutes	£576,690

On average, the ‘commuter towns’ in which Londoners are moving to have a house price that is £124,590 cheaper than the average London house price, while only being an average of 33 minutes away from central London by train.

Brighton was the most popular destination for Londoners to move to in 2024 and had a positive relative change that suggests it’s going to be on the up. The average house price in Brighton is just over £500,000 but still beats the average house price in London by nearly £200,000.

Brighton is known for its beaches, nightlife, and it’s cultural scene and was also named as Country Living's best place to live for well-being. Being only an hour away from London by train also means that people who work hybrid or flexible hours may still want to commute in, as you will have easy access to the English capital.

Reading had the highest relative change when it comes to Londoners moving there in the last year, seeing a relative change from 2022 of 1.36% and coming in as the second most popular town to move to from London in the last year.

Reading is also one of the cheapest areas on the list with an average house price that is over £275,000 cheaper than the average London house price, and with a direct train from London to Reading taking 43 minutes, it’s no wonder why the town is so popular amongst Londoners who are moving out.

Both of the most popular areas on this list are relatively far away from London when looking at other areas on the list, but have direct trains to the capital city. Therefore, as well as house prices, people could be looking at the cost of living in these areas. Brighton and Reading have a lower cost of living than areas with a lower commute time but similar housing prices because of their position around London.

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