Research released by AnyVan.com highlights families renting in London could save up to £64 a minute by moving to the commuter zone. The research has used the price of renting a regular 3 bedroom family property in the capital against a similar house in a commuter town.
| Location | Total cost | Travel time to zone 1 (mins) | Location | Total cost | Travel time to zone 1 (mins) | Total saving | Saving per min |
| Haddenham | £1,724 | 41 | Kenton | £2,038 | 34 | £315 | £45 |
| Reading | £1,709 | 31 | Gunnersbury | £2,254 | 17 | £545 | £39 |
| Woking | £2,063 | 28 | Colliers Wood | £2.254 | 25 | £191 | £64 |
| St Albans | £2,091 | 23 | Walthamstow | £2,249 | 18 | £157 | £31 |
| Kings Langley | £1,698 | 29 | West Finchley | £1,988 | 22 | £290 | £41 |
| Berkhamstead | £2,120 | 32 | Clapham South | £2,709 | 16 | £589 | £37 |
| Didcot | £1,570 | 45 | Queensbury | £1,938 | 28 | £369 | £22 |
| Seven Oaks | £1,998 | 25 | Tooting Bec | £2,154 | 21 | £156 | £39 |
| Chelmsford | £1,681 | 41 | Woodford | £1,888 | 25 | £207 | £13 |
| Bedford | £1,479 | 42 | Edgware | £1,974 | 31 | £495 | £45 |
(Total monthly cost includes rent for 3 bedroom property and monthly travel card inc. tube)
The cost of property in London is high, especially for working families which rent their family home. For those of us who work in Central London, adding just a few minutes to a commute can save hundreds of pounds each month. But where can you move to which gives you a similar commute time plus a similar sized property?
From the AnyVan.com research, Woking offered the biggest saving per minute for a property move. There are a number of rental homes close to Woking station and with its quick train link to Waterloo, the commute time from your front door can be as little as 28 minutes. There are decent savings to be made, roughly £191 a month in comparison to living in Colliers Wood which can have a 25-minute journey into Zone 1. This means a saving of £64 for each minute added to the commute time.
The biggest potential monthly saving shown in this research was £589, by moving from South Clapham to beautiful Berkhamsted. A similar saving could be gained by switching homes in South West London, such as Gunnersbury, to Reading. If you’re looking at Reading, be sure to check out Caversham which offers a village feel but is just a few minutes walk from central Reading and the mainline station. A short walk and direct train into London will take just 31 minutes and could save commuters £39 a minute, or £545 per month.
A lesser-known option is Haddenham, a small village close to Thame on the border of Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire. Haddenham offers a direct fast train service which gets you into Marylebone in under 40 minutes. This commute would add just seven minutes in comparison to travelling in via the Bakerloo line from Kenton. This switch would save £45 minute per minute and £315 a month.
Other locations in the research included Bedford against Edgware which had a saving of £45 per minute. Seven Oaks was just four minutes longer than Tooting Bec with a saving of £39 per minute. Kings Langley offers a commute of 29 mins into Euston versus West Finchley at 22 mins. This 7-minute difference could save £41 per minute.
Moving expert Angus Elphinstone, CEO of AnyVan.com commented “ Our research highlights just how much money families who are renting in London could save by moving to a commuter town. Locations like Reading, St Albans and Woking offer rapid direct train links and give movers an option to save money by adding just a couple of minutes to their journey time in comparison to living in Zone 3 or 4. Commuter train tickets can cost upwards of £500, which might seem a bit steep for some, but even with the additional travel costs families can easily save £500 a month by switching London to a commuting hub.
“Our advice before you move anywhere is always do your homework and research the area. We’ve selected areas with available rental properties within a few minutes to walk to the train station as using a car park could add a further £100 per month to a commute.“
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