The Surrey market town of Dorking has come out top in a new survey of commuter hotspots, seeing off competition from towns across the UK such as Farnborough and Weybridge.
Research from estate agent Jackson-Stops & Staff found that with an average house price of £400,302 and a season ticket of £3,361, Dorking offers a higher quality commute and lower average house price than other prime locations.
Dorking topped the list not only for its proximity to London and average house prices that are lower than the capital, but its location near the famous beauty spots of the Surrey Hills and Leith Hill. The M25 is also easily accessible and Gatwick Express trains to London leave every 15 minutes.
Jackson-Stops & Staff based its analysis on a number of factors, including the average price of a home, the length of commute, frequency of trains and the likelihood of getting a seat in the morning.
Farnborough is notable for its convenient location, several non-stop trains in the mornings into London Waterloo and the UK’s major airports, Gatwick and Heathrow.
Meanwhile, the report considers Weybridge to be one of Surrey’s most coveted locations in which to live. Located along the River Wey, three major motorways – the A3, M25 and M4 – are easily accessible and Weybridge Station offers half hour journey times to London Waterloo.
Nick Leeming, chairman at Jackson-Stops & Staff, said: “A commuter’s lifestyle is not for everyone but people who do opt for the daily journey into the City will be carefully balancing a number of factors in their minds and two of the most important in our experience are what you can get for your money in terms of property, and the cost and quality of travelling into the capital.
“The advent of mobile technology means more people are able to use their commuting time to do something useful, whether that’s having a look at their emails before they reach the office or getting ahead on the daily news agenda. This means that factors like whether you can get a seat on the train become all important – if you’re wedged into a carriage and unable to move, the time spent on the train is much less pleasant! Ultimately people are trying to get from A to B so frequency of trains and journey times are also integral.”
List of commuter hotspots
| Rank | Area | Average property price (Land Registry) | Cost of an annual ticket to London as of 2016 | Journey times to London station (minimum) | Performance measure (% of trains that arrive at the terminating station on time) | Do you get a seat in the morning? |
| 1 | Dorking | £400,302 | £3,361 | 56 minutes | 90.3% | Yes |
| 2 | Farnborough | £279,730 | £4,703 | 38 minutes | 90.3% | Yes |
| 3 | Weybridge | £696,622 | £3,632 | 34 minutes | 90.3% | yes |
| 4 | Chelmsford | £288,180 | £4,756 | 34 minutes | 89.5% | Yes |
| 5 | Reading | £305,391 | £5,031 | 28 minutes | 89.2% | Sometimes |
| 6 | Winchester | £462,356 | £5,698 | 58 minutes | 90.3% | Yes |
| 7 | Milton Keynes | £245,344 | £5,876 | 35 minutes | 86.25% | Sometimes |
| 8 | Oxford | £468,907 | £5,629 | 56 minutes | 89.2% | Yes |
| 9 | Richmond | £914,540 | £2,390 | 22 minutes | 90.3% | No |
| 10 | Chichester | £325,796 | £5,330 | 91 minutes | 81.7% | Yes |
| 11 | Sevenoaks | £572,086 | £3,987 | 33 minutes | 88.6% | No |
| 12 | Ipswich | £187,211 | £7,170 | 70 minutes | 89.5% | Yes |
| 13 | Cambridge | £462,105 | £5,981 | 52 minutes | 85.6% | Sometimes |
| 14 | Norwich | £203,784 | £8,735 | 114 minutes | 89.5% | Yes |
| 15 | Woburn | £522,545 | £5,852 | 68 minutes | 92.6% | No |
