St Albans named among Londoners’ preferred places to move to
42 per cent of Londoners are planning to leave the capital in the next 12 months - and many of them have St Albans in their sights . Picture: Danny Loo. - Credit: Archant
St Albans has been named among the most popular destinations for Londoners looking to leave the capital.
The Cathedral city placed ninth on Rightmove's countdown of the ten places within commutable distance of the capital most favoured by London-dwellers.
Top of the list was Watford, followed by Epsom in Surrey and Dartford in Kent.
Rightmove quizzed Londoners looking to make a move over the next 12-months, and found that 42 per cent are planning to leave the city.
Of this group, 40 per cent still plan to commute to the capital, with 23 per cent hoping to keep their journey below 45 minutes.
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Just under half (48 per cent) say the capital is too expensive to buy a home, while 28 per cent say the cost of living is too high.
A third (31 per cent) of those looking to leave London have the countryside in their sights, with the village of Greenhithe in Kent the most desired location.
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Aneisha Beveridge, head of research at Hamptons International, said flexible working, faster broadband and better transport links have helped make a move out of the capital seem more appealing than ever.
She added: "Buyers can get much more for their money out of London than in. Lifestyle choices including space, schools and quality of life are high on purchasers' lists too."
Aneisha said that 43 per cent of "prime London movers" had left the capital in the last year - "a record proportion, and significantly higher than the 33 per cent low of 2013".
She added that the majority of these leavers moved to another town nearby - such as St Albans or Watford.
