Herts misses out on ‘best commuter town’ crown

Purfleet in Essex has been named as London’s best commuter town, leaving Waltham Cross and Cheshunt in second and third place.

TotallyMoney’s list of the best places to buy outside of the capital was chosen from a pool of 116 towns surrounding London.

Average house price, length of commute time into London by train, cost of a season ticket and overall life satisfaction were analysed before the towns were ranked as possible commuter hotspots.

A 33-minute commute, life satisfaction score of 7.77, £2,376 annual travel card and average house price of just £210,820 secured Purfleet the top spot.

Hertfordshire scored a few more mentions in the top 25, with Bushey (15), Hatfield (17), Watford Junction (22) and Potters Bar (23) all making the cut.

Stevenage managed a mid-table position (56), just behind Letchworth (47) while St Albans (81) and Harpenden (87) languished towards the bottom of the list.

High property prices – the average homes here sell for £554,774 and £768,214 respectively – are likely to have counted against the usually sought-after towns, which scored a respectable 7.54 and 7.75 for life satisfaction.

Surrey’s famously upmarket Virgina Water was named as the worst commuter town overall thanks to its relatively long 47-minute commute into the capital and very pricey properties – an average home here costs a whopping £1,421,304.

TotallyMoney concluded: “If your priority is to move out of London to benefit from cheaper housing, you’ll definitely fare better elsewhere.”

The three other Hertfordshire towns that featured on the list were Hemel Hempstead (31), Chorleywood (57) and Tring (78).