Here are the best London commuter towns – with house prices you can actually afford
London life is not for everyone; it's noisy, the houses are too expensive and the pints aren't cheap either.
So if you're looking to get away from it all, but you don't want to give up your City job, where is the ideal place to settle down?
Read more: This is what the Budget had to say about UK house prices
When weighing up house prices, how long it takes to commute and the cost of a season ticket, researchers at Totally Money found that Swanley in Kent, where the average house price is £353,884, is your best bet. Bushey, in Hertfordshire, came second.
Here are the best and worst towns to live in if you're commuting to London:
And in the top five commuter towns, the average house price is less than £450,000 (which, by London standards, is affordable).
| Town | House prices | Cost of commute | Commute time (mins) | Life satisfaction | |
| 1. | Swanley | £353,854 | £3,428 | 29 | 8.15 |
| 2. | Bushey | £318,484 | £3,092 | 21 | 7.68 |
| 3. | Watford | £438,385 | £3,444 | 20 | 7.75 |
| 4. | Redhill | £409,787 | £3,528 | 31 | 8 |
| 5. | Ebbsfleet | £221,241 | £5,180 | 18 | 7.54 |
| 6. | Maidenhead | £551,697 | £4,592 | 20 | 7.83 |
| 7. | Sevenoaks | £659,851 | £4,052 | 32 | 8.15 |
| 8. | Horley | £410,320 | £4,060 | 35 | 8 |
| 9. | Slough | £388,522 | £3,344 | 17 | 7.42 |
| 10. | Waltham Cross | £388,172 | £2,568 | 28 | 7.63 |