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It is often assumed that the commuter-belt within an hour of London is featureless sprawl: boring suburbia, as portrayed in 1970s television favourites The Good Life and Reggie Perrin.
Yet this is quite wrong. Each of the following places has its own distinctive personality, be it Leigh-on-Sea with its harbour views, Banbury with its easy access to the Cotswolds (at a fraction of the price) or Tunbridge Wells, which is to Kent what Bath is to Somerset. Be it Bray or Bedford, every one of them is different.
Yet each is a good place to live…
You can use our interactive map to get a taste of property prices in each area and how long it takes to get to London by train.
Hungerford
The banks of the Kennet and Avon canal in Hungerford
Hungerford has all the charm of an Ealing comedy. The only supermarket is tucked away down a side street and the broad High Street is lined with independents – pubs, restaurants, coffee shops, antique shops and an excellent books shop. It brims with community spirit.
Sports teams flourish and there’s an arts festival which is a splendidly amateur affair largely featuring local enthusiasts. The Berkshire market town has its own quirky traditions too, notably an all day knees-up called Hocktide, involving oranges, kissing and much drinking (don’t ask).
The average price of a house sold in Hungerford last year was £383,000 – considerably less expensive than nearby Marlborough’s £465,000. South of the railway line or along the A4 can suffer traffic noise.
On the market:
- A 4-bed town house is with Knight Frank for £1,150,000.
- A 2-bed terraces cottage in the Croft with Jones Robinson is for £365,000.
- A modern 2-bed terraces in Orchard Park Close with Marc Allen is £230,000.
What’s so special?
A human scale town in commuter-land.
Supermarkets:
Tesco, Co-op.
Restaurants:
Mia Flore – Italian cafe style, Eliane – healthy eating restaurant, The funghi club (bistro).
Green spaces:
Good walking on the banks of the Kennet and Avon canal. Hungerford Common is a favourite with dog walkers.
Commute:
56 minutes to Paddington. 28 trains a day.
Banbury
Banbury cross, which was erected in 1859 for the wedding of Queen Victoria’s eldest daughter to Prince Frederick of Prussia
Fancy a move to the Cotswolds? Well, unless you’re a Mayfair commuting fund manager you can forget it. But transfer your aspirations a little further north to Banbury in Oxfordshire and you’re in with a chance.
While in Burford the average house sells for £838,000, here you will pay a more manageable £291,000. Surrounded by light industry the centre of Banbury, with its narrow alleys and pubs, is still recognisably a late Victorian market town.
The wharf, with its colourful canal boats is approached through Castle Quay Shopping Centre and there’s an excellent arts centre. It would also pay to check out the nearby Hornton stone villages of Deddington, Bloxham and Adderbury.
On the market:
- A 4-bed house on the Oxford Road with Hamptons for £900,000.
- A brand new 4-bed detached on Bloxham Road £415,000 with Redrow.
- A 3-bed modern semi-detached with Connellsfor £325,000.
What’s so special?
Cotswolds-lite.
Supermarkets:
Morrisons, Tesco Extra, Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, Aldi, Iceland and Co-op.
Restaurants:
The White Horse, The Dun Cow, Pizza Calzone.
Green spaces:
Adderbury to Bloxham Grove. This 5km circular walk from Adderbury is generally considered moderately challenging.
Commute:
56 minutes to Marylebone with a twice hourly service.
Bicester
Shoppers browse the windows at Bicester Village shopping outlet
If it’s a bargain you want then you could hardly do better than Bicester in Oxfordshire. It has its famous designer outlet village for starters: a carefully manicured selection of stores selling their fashion items at prices that attract customers by the coach load.
Then there’s the fact that it has the largest custom-build housing development in the country at Graven Hill. Up to 1,900 homes were built and buyers could either fit out a ready-made shell or build creatively within the broad planning rules of a plot with utilities.
Savings could be considerable. More recently Bicester received a £70million boost from the Pioneer Square retail development which includes a large Sainsbury’s and a cinema. In the old market square some 16th century gabled houses are a nod to the town’s past.
On the market:
- Church Street, Bodicote. Grade II-isted Hornton stone cottage with Savills £995,000.
- New 4-bed home Romford Close with Allen & Harris £615,000.
- 4 bed townhouse Victoria Court with Taylors £350,000.
What’s so special?
Everybody loves a bargain.
Supermarkets:
Tesco Superstore, Sainsbury’s, Aldi, Lidl, Iceland and Co-op
Restaurants:
Many but Denis (Turkish) has best reviews.
Green spaces:
Stoke Wood Circular, a 2.4km short trail through Stoke Wood following clear paths.
Commute:
Trains between Bicester North and Marylebone run twice hourly. The fast trains take only 43 minutes.
Bedford
The Church of St Paul overlooks the Great Ouse in Bedford
Bedford used to be one of those places that people drove through without giving it a second thought. Not now. In the last twenty years it has become progressively more sought after and the cause of its popularity is the schools.
The five primaries and two secondaries, St John’s and St Thomas More RC are deemed ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted. Most of the more expensive homes are in the Castle Quarter while the Victorian is found around Bedford Park, a 60 acre green space about a mile from the station.
The average house price is around £310,000. The locals are a generous lot – according to JustGiving, a charity donation website, Bedford is the most generous town per capita in Britain.
On the market:
- Clapham Park. A 10-bed country house with Goodacres £3,500,000.
- Putnoe Lane. A 6-bed detached with Taylors £730,000.
- Lady Mayor Drive. 3-bed semi with Cooper Wallace £350,000.
Supermarkets:
Tesco Superstore, Morrisons, Waitrose, Aldi, Lidl, Iceland and Waitrose.
Restaurants:
The Embankment pub, Mama Concetta, Santaniello.
Green spaces:
Russell Park where there is an annual kite festival and Harold-Odell Country Park.
Commute:
The fastest trains take 40 minutes into St Pancras.
Great Missenden
Great Missenden, where Sophie Dahl, granddaughter of author Roald, and her husband Jamie Cullum live
Great Missenden is the village that fuelled the imagination of one of our greatest children’s writers – Roald Dahl.
The author moved here in 1954, without even seeing it first, and went on to fall in love with the quintessential English village surroundings which crop up in so many of his books.
Today his granddaughter, the model Sophie Dahl lives in the Buckinghamshire village with her husband, the jazz star Jamie Cullum. It is a sleepy place, which is its attraction.
Apart from the private tennis club there is little in the way of entertainment but it attracts buyers from Beaconsfield and Gerrards Cross who feel displaced by the migration of incomers to their own neighbourhoods.
The narrow main street is lined with houses and shops that date from the 15th-19th centuries. Prices range from £910,000 for a detached house to £450,000 for a terraced.
On the market:
- Ballinger Road. 4-bed new home (built in 2022) with Savills £1,250,000.
- Sixty Acres Road. 4-bed detached home with Tim Russ £750,000.
- Carrington Way. 4 bed semi with Jeremy Swan £475,000.
What’s so special?
Share the olde worlde village dream with a genius.
Supermarkets:
Sainsbury’s and Co-op.
Restaurants:
The Cross Keys (gastro pub).
Green spaces:
Plentiful in the surrounding woods.
Commute:
It is 46 minutes to Marylebone and there are 46 trains a day.
Ingatestone
A timber framed house on Ingatestone high street
Ingatestone offers that tantalising mix of town meets country. In terms of townie pleasures it offers community groups such as the tennis, cricket and music and opera groups, while The Summer Show is a stage for all the more rural pursuits.
The village itself is picture postcard pretty, with its timber-framed homes and handsome red-brick parish church. The High Street is an interesting assortment of independents – butchers, bakers and homeware stores – fighting their corner with the supermarkets.
The schools are an attraction: the junior and infants are judged ‘good’ by Ofsted and the Anglo European School, which teaches the International Baccalaureate, has an excellent reputation.
A detached house in this sought-after Essex village will cost around £1.2million while a flat will set you back £319,000.
On the market:
- Ingatestone Village. 6-bed modern house with Walkers £1,590,000.
- Chapel Cross. 3-bed semi-detached mews with Walkers £585,000.
- Roman Road. New 1-bed apartment with Redrow £290,000.
What’s so special?
City comforts in a country setting.
Supermarkets:
Co-op and Budgens.
Restaurants:
Vita Bella (Italian), The Archers (gastro pub), Taz (Turkish).
Green spaces:
A short walk to ancient woodland. It’s about a mile walk to the Tudor Ingatestone Hall.
Commute:
34 minutes to Liverpool Street. 47 trains a day.
Letchworth
Letchworth, the first garden city, which was originally developed by Quakers
Not so very long ago if you told a stranger you came from Letchworth Garden City you’d be suspected of being an Esperanto-speaking, open-toed-sandal-wearing Morris dancer.
For the Hertfordshire town was at the centre of the Arts and Crafts movement and traces of it remain, notably the cottages in Nevells Road, Icknield Way and Wilbury Road. It has retained its 1930s outdoor swimming pool but the 1936 Art Deco cinema is now a 4-screen complex and there is a modern supermarket, sports and leisure centre.
Being originally developed by Quakers, this is not the place for you if you enjoy pubs. The restaurants, however, do brisk trade. The town is growing and houses in the newish estates are generally less expensive than those in the garden city proper. The average cost of a house in Letchworth last year was £436,000.
On the market:
- Broadway. An original 5-bed Garden City-style house with Michael Graham £2million.
- Eastholme Green. 4-bed house built in 1905 with Charter Whyman £875,000.
- Bayworth. 2-bed semi-detached bungalow with Purplebricks £215,000.
What’s so special?
Quaker-like calm in the commuter belt.
Supermarkets:
Sainsbury’s, Morrsions, Iceland and Aldi.
Restaurants:
Allora is an Italian, The Turquoise Kitchen (Turkish), L’artista (pizzeria).
Green spaces:
Letchworth Green way trail at 20km is a favourite, particularly with dog walkers.
Commute:
It is 45 minutes into King’s Cross with 81 trains a day.
Princes Risborough
Princes Risborough holds a market every Thursday and a farmer’s market once a month
While other Chilterns towns are stunningly pretty, Princes Risborough in Buckinghamshire is simply attractive. But sometimes understatement trumps twee and this market town is a delightful place to live.
It has a good high street; a market is held every Thursday and a farmer’s market comes once a month. The annual town festival – the highlight of the summer calendar – is held in July. There is plenty of human scale architecture, with modern estates and a few 16th and 17th Century homes set along little roads and cul-de-sacs. Local schools take children through from toddlers to late teens, which can be handy for commuting couples.
The average price of a semi-detached house last year was £562,000. There is little in the way of fine dining – for that you must drive to Thame or Marlowe. But the locals say that means they can chat in one of the half-dozen pubs without being nudged aside by visitors.
On the market:
- Beech Cottage, Askett Lane is a Grade II-listed 3-bedroom cottage with Tim Russ £935,000.
- Stratton Road. A 4-bed semi-detached with Michael Graham £525,000.
- 35 Station Road. A 2-bed terraced with a home office in the garden with Tim Russ £400,000.
What’s so special?
Cosy market town.
Supermarkets:
Tesco Superstore, Morrisons and M&S.
Restaurants:
The Bird in Hand regularly holds street food events.
Green spaces:
Sections of the Ridgeway National Trail and the Chiltern Way are popular.
Commute:
It is 52 minutes to Marylebone and there are 77 trains a day.
Bray
The Thames at Bray, which is a short walk away from Maidenhead – which offers fast connections into London
Why did people pay, on average £909,000 for a house in Bray last year? ‘It’s the choice of Michelin-starred restaurants on your doorstep,’ says John Henson of Savills in Windsor.
‘It’s the river, the proximity of so many top independent schools and the fact that Bray really has a village vibe.’ In many ways, Bray in Berkshire has everything you’d find in a normal village; just better.
The cricket ground, for example, is beautifully manicured and instead of the local blacksmith puffing in to bowl, you are more likely to find a test match star – the influence of the late Sir Michael Parkinson who knew how to pull strings.
It is close to Heathrow and Maidenhead’s big stores and excellent state schools. Several of Maidenhead’s primary schools are outstanding, as are Newlands Girls’ and Holyport College.
There are even estates, though not as we know them. One house on the Fisheries last year sold for £7.5million. Bray is part of a conservation area so carrying out building work is likely to prompt objections.
Commuting is painless. ‘It’s wonderful after a day in London to arrive at Maidenhead station and after a brisk walk find you are in this fabulous village,’ says Henson.
On the market:
- Vicarage Walk. Newly built 5-bed detached on the river with John D Wood £4million.
- Beltoney Vere. 3-bed cottage in the High Street with Savills £865,000.
- High Street. 1-bed ground floor flat with Oakwood Estates £350,000.
What’s so special?
Perfection at a price.
Supermarkets:
None in Bray but all the usual suspects in Maidenhead two miles away.
Restaurants:
The Waterside Inn, The Fat Duck, The Hind’s Head.
Green Space:
Try the 10.7km Thames Path between Bray and Maidenhead starting at Riverside Gardens, Maidenhead.
Commute:
It is a short walk to Maidenhead station from where some trains take as little as 26 minutes to get to Paddington. The average is 44 minutes and there are about 301 trains a day.
Frant
The village green in Frant, where house prices are up 73 per cent on last year
If not for the fact that Frant really exists we would assume it’s a place in a PG Wodehouse novel. Why else would the station master – admittedly some time ago – run a wellie-warming service for homebound commuters.
And why should the Sloe Gin World Championships take place in the George Inn every December? The setting is perfect too, with the lovely cricket ground on the green at the top of the hill, surrounded by superb timber-framed and Georgian houses.
The Kent village has its own shop and bowling green and to top it off there’s the Marquess of Abergavenny’s large estate, just waiting for Bertie Wooster to wreak havoc. The Church of England primary school is graded ‘good’ by Ofsted.
House prices are up 73 per cent on last year. A semi-detached now sells for over a million pounds and the average cost of a terraced house is £526,000. Spiffing: if you can afford it.
On the market:
- Sussex View. A 3-bed semi-detached with Hamptons £645,000.
What’s so special?
The world of Wooster on your doorstep.
Supermarkets:
In Frant? None. All the usual suspects are found in Tunbridge Wells.
Restaurants:
The Lazy Fox, The Abergavenny Arms, The Junction.
Green Space:
Lots of walks in Eridge Old Park, one of the oldest deer parks in the country.
Commute:
It takes on average an hour to get to London and there are 69 trains a day.
Horley
Ye Olde Six Bells pub in Horley, which is reportedly the cheapest place to buy a property in Surrey
If you want to know why Horley is known as ‘nappy valley’ you only have to visit the local park. There you’ll meet millennials by the dozen pushing buggies or chasing after their scampering toddlers.
The town has much to attract them, being the cheapest place to buy a flat or house in Surrey (according to Surrey Life). As for socialising, there are numerous independent restaurants and good pubs such as Ye Olde Six Bells.
The Basement offers all sorts of electronic games as well as a bottomless brunch. A morning spent here or at Emba, a new pilates/yoga studio, is a popular stress-buster before its home for more baby-sitting duties. There are lots of nurseries and no primary or infant school is graded lower than ‘good’ by Ofsted.
The coast at Brighton is only a 40 minute drive and one young mother summed up Horley as, ‘Better connected to London than Reigate and cheaper than Redhill.’ The average price of a flat last year was £236,000, which is reasonable for Surrey. Semi-detached houses went for £449,000.
As for the quality of life, the young Mum added. ‘It may not be the most exciting place in the world, but it’s affordable, people are friendly and there are plenty of amenities.’
On the market:
- Meath Green Lane. 5-bedroom house with annexe, pool and tennis court with Jackson-Stops £2,250,000.
- Castle Drive Horley. 3-bed bungalow with White and Sons £499,500.
- Victoria Road, Horley. 1-bed newbuild apartment with Andrews £190,000.
What’s so special?
Happy days in nappy valley.
Supermarkets:
Waitrose, Tesco Extra, Lidl and Iceland.
Restaurants:
Shiraz (Turkish), Costa del Sol (Tapas), Jai Ho (Indian).
Green spaces:
The recreation ground has tennis courts, slides and swings. For a more strenuous walk try the 3.7km trail through Glovers Wood.
Commute:
43 minutes from Horley to Victoria, with 16 trains a day. 38 minutes to London Bridge with 437 trains weekly.
Leigh-on-Sea
Boats at Leigh-on-Sea, which sees 215 train services a day to London
There are precious few places where the commuter can return home to the salty tang of ozone in the air but Leigh in Essex is one of them.
A fishing village with cobbled streets of clapboard houses and cockle sheds, it has for long been a favourite with retirees. Now, however, it attracts City workers, creatives and arty types – hence the trendy coffee shops and hipster bars. If you tire of watching the boats landing their catch you can view migratory birds at the stretch of salt mash that is Two Tree Island.
Hadleigh Country Park is 387 acres of marsh, sea wall and grassland. There is an active sailing club or you may prefer to escape the crowds at the award winning Bell Wharf beach. Two and three bedroom terraced cottages rarely come on the market. Many of the larger houses have been turned into flats, selling for £261,000 on average.
On the market:
Why so special:
Sea life after the city.
Supermarkets:
Co-op, Waitrose, Sainsbury’s and Iceland.
Restaurants:
Mariners Court (pub restaurant), Cacina (Italian), The Oakleigh Bar (English bar/restaurant)
Green Spaces:
Try the four-mile walk on the Thames Estuary Path from Leigh station past the ruins of Hadleigh Castle.
Commute:
It takes an hour on average to travel between Leigh-on-Sea and Fenchurch Street but the fastest trains do it in 42 minutes. There are 215 trains a day.
Egham
Royal Holloway, University of London, in Egham
If you are considering going into the buy-to-let business then Egham in Surrey could be a good place to start. The presence of Royal Holloway (the University of London’s out-of-city campus college) means a steady supply of students looking for accommodation.
Their influence is seen throughout the town in the bars, bistros and pubs. Airbnb is another possibility. Heathrow is on the doorstep and tourists are desperate to see Thorpe Park, Windsor Great Park (less than a 15 minute drive away) and Runnymede.
As well as innumerable hotels the town has a good mix of local shopping, including a butcher and a baker whose families have been serving the community for more than a hundred years.
The majority of sales in Egham last year were semi-detached properties going for on average £488,000. Terraced properties sold for £446,000. Flats cost £240,000.
On the market:
Why so special:
Buy-to-let business starter for ten.
Supermarkets:
Tesco Superstore, Budgens and Waitrose.
Restaurants:
Acquolina in Bocca (Italian), Bar 163 (bar and ambitious food), Palow (Persian).
Commute:
50 minutes to Waterloo. 83 trains a day.
Wraysbury
The Thames at Wraysbury, which offers commutes of less than an hour to Waterloo by train
It was once a weekend retreat for Londoners, who built riverside shanties along the banks. The Berkshire village, which has two miles of water frontage, is surrounded by gravel pits that have been landscaped into 60 acres of lakes, providing sanctuaries for bird watchers and sailing clubs.
Opposite there is the island where Magna Carta is believed to have been signed. There is a handful of local shops, a post office, two pubs and a village green.
About 80 per cent of homes are detached, selling for on average £950,000, a sprinkling of pre-Georgian cottages and a few Edwardian and Victorian terraces sell for about £512,000.
Don’t write the architecture off as being predictable though, for Wraysbury has for sale the most bewilderingly original house in suburban Britain.
The life-long project of its elderly owner, it is a bog standard bungalow on a fair sized plot that has been transformed into a cross between a Roman villa and Tintern Abbey. (See ‘on the market’).
On the market:
- Park Avenue, Wraysbury. A 7-bed mansion with Fine & Country £2,750,000.
- Waylands, Wraysbury. A 4-bed detached with BS Bennett £650,000.
- Coppermill Road, Wraysbury. A 2-bedroom flat with Chancellors £325,000.
What’s so special?
Surprises in suburbia.
Supermarkets:
Co-op.
Restaurants:
The George Steakhouse, The Perseverance (Vegetarian friendly), Spice Village (Indian).
Green spaces:
The park at Ankerwycke has a good, flat terrain and is a good starting point for longer walks.
Commute:
The average train time into Waterloo is 56 minutes but the fast trains arrive in 47 minutes. There are 38 trains a day.
Balcombe
The Ouse Valley viaduct in Balcombe, which was completed in 1842 and has 37 arches
Situated in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty with a glorious viaduct nearby, this is a favourite spot with commuters of a certain independent nature.
Some of them have organised themselves into an action group opposed to fracking, others support such worthy causes as the Christmas Tree Society to help the needy. A care group arranges to take people to hospital and collect their prescriptions.
There are myriad clubs from mixed Cubs to tennis, cricket, football and badminton. People sail, windsurf and fish in Ardingly Reservoir at weekends. There is a nursery and primary school and the village has a broad mix of properties, with new estates planned well enough to avoid any feeling of claustrophobia.
Balcombe in West Sussex is described in parish literature as a ‘happy’ place. Little wonder when the residents can afford to pay on average £1million for a house there.
On the market:
- Mill Lane. A 5-bed detached with Jackson-Stops £2,450,000.
- Haywards Heath Road. A 3-bed 17th Century detached cottage with Mark Revill £615,000.
- Character cottage. A 3-bed semi-detached with PS&B Price £600,000.
What’s so special?
A little village with a big social conscience.
Supermarkets:
Balcombe Stores.
Restaurants:
The Half Moon (Pub cuisine).
Green Space:
Try the 14km circular walk from Balcombe railway station car park to Balcombe Viaduct and Ardingly Reservoir.
Commute:
Trains take on average 55 minutes to get from Balcombe to Victoria but several services arrive in 42 minutes. There are 170 trains a day.
Tunbridge Wells
The Pantiles shopping parade in Tunbridge Wells, which offers a number of independent outlets
Tunbridge Wells’s gracious crescents and elegant terraces designed by Decimus Burton positively ooze prosperity. It caters for recreational tastes of all kinds.
There are a couple of art galleries, a theatre and a cinema, a lively arts centre and two golf courses, as well as a rugby ground and Kent County Cricket Ground.
The town is a shopper’s paradise with a huge range of specialist shops and in the Royal Victoria Shopping Mall, all the chain stores. There is a farmer’s market every Saturday. The best address is Nevill Park, a private road with lodge gates. You will also need deep pockets to buy in Calverley Park.
Some 70 per cent of the houses along Mount Ephraim have been turned into flats. The average price of a detached house was over a million pounds last year. Flats fetched £311,000.
On the market:
- Calverley Park. Grade II Regency villa by Decimus Burton with Savills £4million.
- South View Road. 2-bed semi-detached with Freeman Forman £425,000.
- Wood Street. 2-bed end terrace with Kings Estates £375,000.
What’s so special?
High prices do not disgust people in Tunbridge Wells.
Supermarkets:
Sainsbury’s, Lidl, Co-op, Budgens, Asda Superstore, Little Waitrose at Shell garage and M&S at BP.
Restaurants:
Sankey’s Old Fishmarket, Kiko Sushi and Yakitori, The Warren and Tallow (Michelin Guide).
Green spaces:
There are 27 miles of paths surrounding the town, with link paths to the Royal town centre.
Commute:
It is 57 minutes to Charing Cross with 377 trains a day.
Oxted
The Old Bell pub on the high street in Oxted, which has a population of 14,000
If you are looking for a safe place to live – far away from street crime and violence – then Oxted could be for you. It has a population of 14,000 and all its major amenities are within walking distance of one another, including the station, cinema, Barn Theatre, shops and leisure centre, creating a cosy atmosphere and making it safe to walk about after dark.
Station Road West is lined with mock-Tudor shops while Old Oxted is the prettiest part of town with its 14th-16th Century cottages under their weathered pantiled roofs.
Oxted, Surrey, has a close-knit community, with its own brass band as well as myriad sports teams. The drink and music festival raises money for charity. Much of the housing stock dates from the 1920s, with some Victorian and Edwardian properties. Limpsfield is a desirable area, many of the homes having large gardens – an acre of land is not unusual.
The average price of a house sold in Oxted last year was £781,000. A terraced property cost £440,000.
On the market:
What’s so special?
Safe and sound in Surrey.
Supermarkets:
Morrisons and Little Waitrose.
Restaurants:
Pan and Vino, Cucina (Italian), Hammonds Wine Bar and Restaurant.
Green spaces:
The Haycutter-Oxted trail is a 3 mile walk from the Haycutter pub through meadows and woodland via an old mill, church and golf course.
Commute:
33 minutes to Victoria.
Pangbourne
The Thames bisects fields in Pangbourne, which is just a mile outside Reading
Although it is just a mile outside Reading, Pangbourne may as well be on another planet. This is where the buffoons in Jerome K Jerome’s Three Men in a Boat stopped off and you still find boating tourists hoping to recapture long lost summer days.
Pangbourne today retains a certain Georgian charm, only spoiled in the rush hour when the narrow roads are jammed with traffic heading into Reading or towards the M4 to London. There are old fashioned shops, including a butcher, baker and an organic supermarket.
The Elephant is a pub that creaks with history and faded grandeur. The corner garage is a Bentley showroom, which tells you a little about the demographic. Catherine, Princess of Wales went to the local St Andrews prep school while Jeffrey Bernard first made himself unwell at Pangbourne College. Detached houses sold for on average £1.1million last year.
On the market:
- Riverview Road. One of the original grand houses. With six bedroom it is with Strutt & Parker £3million.
- Horseshoe Road. 2-bed terraced with Davis Tate £500,000.
- Willows Court, Station Road. 2-bed mid-terrace with Parkers £260,000.
What’s so special?
Messing about on a boat a short hop from the city.
Supermarkets:
Co-op. Several more in nearby Reading.
Restaurants:
The Swan Pub and Restaurant (river views), La De Kitchen (Mediterranean), Lina Tandoori (Indian).
Commute:
Ten minutes to Reading and a further 40 to London. You have the option of the Elizabeth line which takes you from Reading in greater comfort into central London.
Chelmsford
Restaurants on the banks of the River Chelmer in Chelmsford
Forget the corny Essex jokes, Chelmsford is a city on the up. The arrival of John Lewis in 2016 has marked its arrival as a major shopping centre.
The out of town superstores are customer friendly while the Thursday antiques and second-hand market makes for more leisurely, human interaction. But it’s the schooling that is the main attraction here.
Chelmsford has two selective grammars – King Edward VI for boys and Chelmsford County High, for girls. The comprehensives such as Moulsham High, The Boswells and Sir John Payne are all rated ‘good’ by Ofsted and primaries such as Beehive Lane are rated ‘outstanding’. There are several big new developments.
Broomfield and Links Drive are some of the more pleasant areas but the surrounding countryside, despite being savaged by developers, contains several surprises. The average price of a house sold in Chelmsford last year was £398,000.
On the market:
What’s so special?
Essex boomtown.
Supermarkets:
Out of town superstores include Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and two malls – High Chelmer and The Meadows.
Restaurants:
Fete Grays Yard, Turtle Bay (Caribbean), Moto Pizza.
Green Spaces:
‘Heart and Sole’ is a health walk scheme, run by volunteers, who organise led walks across Chelmsford linked to The Ramblers well-being walks programme.
Commute:
It takes on average 39 minutes to travel from Chelmsford to Liverpool Street and there are 226 trains a day.
Sevenoaks
Deer graze at the 1,000-acre Knole estate in Sevenoaks
A commuter town since 1862, Sevenoaks today is the perfect place to hang your hat after a hard day spent working in the city.
The train service is good, the schools excellent and the community is nothing if not interesting. Sport, for example, is popular but far beyond the usual team games, you will find yoga and Pilates classes and all sorts of hippy-dippy goings on such as ‘forest bathing’ and mindfulness walking.
There is a flourishing arts scene, with both a literary and a community arts festival. Children are tutored mercilessly despite most of the state primaries being judged ‘good’ by Ofsted while Lady Boswell CofE is ‘outstanding’.
Youngsters move on to the state secondary Knole Academy (judged ‘good’); the Tunbridge Wells grammars or the independent Sevenoaks School which is one of the top private schools in the country. Some of the most expensive addresses are on the Wildernesse Estate.
The Kippington area, with its mix of Victorian, 1930s and post-war housing, is also popular. The average price of a detached house last year was £1.3million.
On the market:
- Woodland Rise. 5-bed detached on the Wildernesse Estate with Savills £3,150,000.
- Aisher Way. 3-bed detached with Purplebricks £625,000.
- Crampton Road. 2-bed end terraced with John Kingston £395,000.
What’s so special?
Sport and artsy well-being so close to town.
Supermarkets:
Tesco superstore. Waitrose. M&S. Lidl. Sainsbury’s, Budgens and Co-op.
Restaurants:
Number Eight, The Vine Restaurant, Cote Brasserie.
Green spaces:
It has to be Knole Park, a 1,000 acre medieval deer park with woodland and valleys.
Commute:
The average journey time to London is 54 minutes but the fastest services can take as little as 22 minutes. There are 718 trains a day.