Property hotspots: Commuter towns
Property website Zoopla has just published its house price hotspots, following a study of commuter towns across the country. The study takes us from around the capital to near Newcastle.
Zoopla looked at annual house price data for towns found within an hour’s commute of ten UK cities: Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield. The property website found Swanley in Kent, with swift access to the capital, to be the best in terms of house price performance, with a 10.78% increase (equivalent to around £36,500 on average) over the previous year.
Top ten commuter hotspots
- Swanley for London: up 10.78% Average house price: £375,066
- Dursley for Bristol: up 9.71% Average house price: £297,581
- Bromsgrove for Birmingham: up 9.61% Average house price: £301,384
- Berkhamsted for London: up 9.18% Average house price: £724,194
- Blaydon-on-Tyne for Newcastle: up 9.09% Average house price: £150,377
- Belper for Nottingham: up 8.94% Average house price: £252,308
- Ilkley for Leeds: up 8.52% Average house price: £404,994
- Atherstone for Birmingham: up 8.26% Average house price: £236,734
- Warwick for Birmingham: up 8.18% Average house price: £383,488
- Bingley for Leeds: up 7.91% Average house price: £231,536
A staggering fact for Swanley
If such a growth rate continued, Zoopla’s study found that the rising value of a Swanley commuter home could cover the cost of the £2,600 annual rail season ticket to London in under one month. Clear proof that a convenient commute to a city centre remains top of many home buyers’ wish lists.
Performing less well
Zoopla’s bottom three towns for this particular study were Frodsham for Manchester; Welwyn for London; and Wokingham for London.
Sources: Zoopla and The Independent
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