Grays named cheapest commuter town for London workers in 2020

The Essex town of Grays has topped the list of best value commuter town for workers heading into London, according to research.

Those living in Grays and commuting to the capital pay a combined annual cost of £15,008 for their mortgage and season ticket.

This combined with a relatively low travel time of 39 minutes to and from London Fenchurch Street station has made it the cheapest destination to commute to London, property website Zoopla says. 

This was closely followed by Leagrave – a suburb of Luton – which has a combined annual cost of £15,399.50 and travel time of 55 minutes via London Blackfriars station. 

Crayford, Kent was third with a yearly fee of £15,662.53 and travel time of 41 minutes from London Bridge. 

All of the cheapest places in the rankings are within an hour’s travel time of London – but the study also researched locations near other large UK cities – Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester and Edinburgh.  

The results are based on how much it costs to have a mortgage and annual rail season ticket. 

The research made certain assumptions about typical mortgage costs, which were based on someone having a two or three bedroom home and a 15 per cent deposit.

It used travel times and 2020 annual railcard costs to analyse the data, which were taken from the National Rail enquiries website. 

Many commuters have been facing increased travelling costs following the 2.7 per cent rail fare increase across Britain on 2 January, pushing annual season tickets up by more than £280 for some commuting from the outer edges of London. 

In the Midlands, Wolverhampton was found to be the best value option for those commuting to Birmingham with an annual cost of £7,483.94 and travel time of 20 minutes to Birmingham New Street station. 

This was followed by Cannock which has an annual combined cost of £7,933.53 but a much longer travel time of 59 minutes. 

Stoke-on-Trent had the cheapest annual mortgage cost of £5,000.78 but the highest season ticket cost of £3,272, totaling £8,272.78.

Further north, Hindley was found to be the best location for Manchester with an average combined cost of £6,883.38 but a 58 minute travel time to Manchester Town Hall. 

Wigan followed with a yearly cost of £6,887.38 and a slightly longer travel time of 59 minutes. 

However, Bolton had the cheapest season ticket cost at £1,072 but the joint highest mortgage cost, with Westhoughton, of £5,982.16 bringing the total annual cost to £7,054.16. 

Rochdale has the shortest travel time of 38 minutes but the joint highest season ticket cost, with Wigan, of £1,212, bringing the total combined cost to £7,062.76. 

Those commuting from Bristol will find that Newport is the cheapest for commuters, who are paying £10,166.86 annually.

It also has the shortest travel time of 35 minutes to Bristol Temple Meads train station. 

The next best value commuter town into Bristol is Highbridge and Burnham. It has a much higher average mortgage and season ticket cost of £11,595.23 with a higher travel time of 53 minutes.  

Meanwhile in Scotland, Dumfermline, in Fife, was found to be the most cost-effective option for Edinburgh with an average annual cost of £7,530.29 and a travel time of 32 minutes from Edinburgh Waverly station. 

This was followed by Falkirk which took less time at 24 minutes but had a slightly higher combined mortgage and season ticket cost of £7,553.18.  

Laura Howard, of Zoopla, said: ‘As the new season ticket prices come into effect this month, much to the frustration of millions of commuters across Britain, those looking to relocate to save money should pay close attention to these figures.

‘The past decade has seen significant property price growth in prime London commuter belt towns but despite of this our analysis still picks out pockets across South East England that represent affordable value for commuters.

‘Areas outside London and the South East are generally more affordable, but commuters can still save money on their daily travel into the likes of Birmingham and Bristol by looking at towns they might not have yet considered, but still have good transport links.’

The news comes on the back of separate research from Trussle that identified the area around Gatwick Airport as the most affordable commuter spot to London. 

It found that homes in this area are currently valued at an average of £172,148, almost £300,000 below the average London house price of £472,000. 

Although aircraft noise may be an issue, the transport links mean a round-trip commute to central London is just 70 minutes at peak-times. 

An annual season ticket now costs £3,336 which means a total monthly mortgage and travel cost of just £830.29. 

Miles Robinson, head of Mmrtgages at Trussle, said: ‘While many may choose to live outside London for a better quality of life, others look to the commuter belt to get more for their money.

‘The reality is that despite the slowdown in the capital’s house prices, buying the perfect home in London is out of reach for many. 

‘However, for those considering moving out of London, it’s crucial that they take into account the cost of getting into the city for work.

‘With some annual season tickets costing more than £10,000 – it’s worth doing proper research to see both how long the commute is and how much it will cost.’