Map: where cheap property prices meet cheap train lines
07-27-2014
There’s a postcode price lottery on commuter train lines. We explain how it works and where cheap property prices combine with cheap train lines
By Kate Palmer
How much more house could your money buy the farther you move from Britain’s biggest urban hubs? It's every family’s dilemma: will the grind of a long, daily commute be compensated for in the form of bigger homes, better schooling and a life in the (more or less) countryside?
The three main variables in the equation are property prices, travel costs and the speed and frequency of travel services.
Commuters with a 60-minute rail journey to London can save about £200,000 on the price of a semi-detached house compared with one in the capital. But there’s a postcode lottery when it comes to savings, as rail fares vary by up to £2,000 a year across commuter lines of a comparable distance.
Our map (above) captures these differences and gives an idea of the cheaper commuter towns. It compares season ticket costs – represented by circle size and shown in the larger number – with housing prices in a selection of commuter towns outside London, Birmingham and Manchester.
While commuters in southern England can make significant savings by living in a more affordable area, workers commuting into Birmingham or Manchester tend to pay more overall in housing and travel costs. This is because there is less of a premium – or in some cases none – on the properties within these centres relative to those in outlying towns or villages.
Speed and frequency of trains play a big part. Workers from Brighton pay among the lowest rail costs out of coastal commuters, with an annual cost of £3,640 for the 70-minute trip to London. Hastings residents must find almost £1,000 more. But while the Hastings commuters must endure a 100-minute journey, they are compensated in property terms: house prices are around a third lower than in Brighton. A semi-detached house in Folkestone might be half the central London equivalent of £450,000, but the 55-minute journey is one of the most expensive commutes in the country at £4,984 a year.
Commuters in Essex have similarly tough choices, as house prices have increased dramatically in centres closer to London, leaving outlying areas comparatively cheap. So though you pay slightly more for your longer commute, your house-buying funds go considerably further away from the capital. A season ticket to Colchester costs £4,680, for instance, beside the Chelmsford equivalent of £4,592. But the average home in Colchester is £80,000 – or 30pc – cheaper than in Chelmsford.
Higher salaries mean the commute to London would always be a draw for people living farther afield. But there are some areas where both housing and rail fares are high – a seeming “lose-lose” situation.
Clearly the attractions of these areas in terms of schooling, environment, housing quality and other factors win through. Commuters in Sevenoaks, Kent, for instance, pay among the highest cost-per-mile commute for their 40-minute journey to London. And with the average semi-detached there selling for in excess of £400,000, it is one of Britain’s costliest housing markets outside of London.
A better-value alternative? It may not have quite the cachet, but Crawley is a similar distance from London. The rail fare works out at almost £100 less per year and house prices are a massive 40pc lower.
Savvy commuters find ways of whittling down costs. If Sevenoaks residents could get just five miles closer to London, for instance, they would fall within the capital’s Zone 6 travel band – a saving of £1,600 per year.
There are different dynamics, though, when comparing Birmingham and London. Live in Reading and work in London and you can save almost £200,000 on the cost of a semi-detached house. Live in Leamington Spa and work in Birmingham and you will pay almost £100,000 more. Semi-detached houses in Birmingham sold for around £160,000 this year, whereas in Stratford-upon-Avon – a 45-minute journey away – such properties went for about 70pc more.
If you work in Birmingham and are willing to pay to live in a picturesque commuter belt town, Banbury may be a better bet than Shrewsbury. Each is a 50-minute commute, but Banbury residents pay about £200 less in travel each year with about £5,000 knocked off the price of a semi.
Manchester commuters from Buxton and Macclesfield also pay £10,000 more for a similar, semi-detached house in the city.
The 6pc cap on yearly rail price increases is good news for those using cheaper lines. It means that inconsistent prices cannot suddenly be pushed up by rail companies.
Mike Hewitson, a policy advocate at Passenger Focus, said any sort of fare regulation would only ramp up prices. “There’s no logic when it comes to rail fares,” he said. “Will London fares go down to meet Birmingham levels in order to make them more comparable? I doubt it.”
Martin Abrams, from the Campaign for Better Transport, criticised the fact that many season ticket-holders were paying upwards of £5,000 on rail travel.
“We want the Government to act on its promise of season tickets for part-time workers, and to implement a coherent plan for investment in rail services around the country,” he said.