Hitchin, Baldock and Letchworth have been named among Britain’s best London commuter hotspots.
TotallyMoney’s new countdown ranked 116 commuter belt towns on a combination of factors, including average house price, time taken to commute into London by train, season ticket cost and ONS data on resident satisfaction.
Hitchin scored highest of the three (20), followed by Baldock (25) and Letchworth (28).
The new countdown is overwhelmingly Hertfordshire-centric, with Cheshunt topping the list, followed by Waltham Cross (2), Hatfield (4), Broxbourne (6), Watford Junction (7) and Hemel Hempstead (10).
Cheshunt is close to the many family-friendly attractions around the Lee Valley, including Fun Junction, Lee Valley White Water Centre and Capel Manor Gardens.
It is also 26-minutes from Liverpool Street by train with an average season ticket cost of £2,288, the fifth cheapest of all towns reviewed.
Bushey also performed well (26), followed by Royston (34), Stevenage (55) and St Albans (67), among other Herts hotspots.
It wasn’t good news across all of the county, however. At the other end of the spectrum was Harpenden, behind Virginia Water in Surrey and Ascot in Berkshire.
An average property price of £808,357 and rail season tickets costing £3,940 are both factors in the upmarket town’s low ranking.
Mark Moloney, CEO of TotallyMoney, said: “With London property and living prices showing no signs of cheapening, the study provides would-be homebuyers with data that can guide decisions on where to buy property, without sacrificing the excellent job opportunities only the capital can offer.”
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