Yahoo Finance Cheapest commuter towns outside Britain's top cities
British workers spend more than a year of their lives stuck in cars, trains, or buses commuting to and from work, according to research.
But choosing to live in cheaper towns near major cities can at least save them thousands of pounds a year.
Thomas Sanderson — a window furnishing firm with an apparent interest in commuting habits — has crunched the numbers on the best-value options.
It compared the costs of renting and commuting from cheaper areas near 15 top UK cities with living in the cities themselves. It found huge savings in most big cities for those prepared to swap the buzz of city life and shorter commutes for longer journeys from less bustling places further out.
The biggest potential saving it found was for a worker in Edinburgh to commute from Shotts, a North Lanarkshire town a 47-minute train away.
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The research found workers living in Shotts could save a hefty £9,716 a year compared to living in the expensive Scottish capital.
Manchester’s best-value commuter spot is Ashton-under-Lyne (saving £6,528), with Blackburn, Hyde, Cadishead, Runcorn, Birchwood, Rochdale, and Stockport all saving an estimated £5,000 a year at least.
In Birmingham, the biggest reported saving was in Sandwell and Dudley (£3,904). Commuters may be able to save more than £3,000 coming in from Walsall, Martson Green, Erdington, Wolverhampton, Stechford, West Bromwich, Shifnal, or Oldbury.
Bristol workers could apparently save £2,340 by commuting from Nailsea, and save at least £1,000 commuting from Backwell, Weston-super-Mare, Yatton, Newport, Pill, and Cwmbran.
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Cardiff workers on a tight budget could consider travelling in from Cilfyndd, Newport, Barry, St Fagans, or Newbridge, which would apparently all free up more than £4,000.
The tool on Thomas Sanderson’s website features the cheapest options for other cities including Cambridge, Sheffield, Leeds, Liverpool, Newcastle, Leicester, Norwich, Newcastle, Glasgow, and Southampton.
Researchers chose not to include commuting options for London, which was “omitted to focus on other major cities which are suffering a ‘millennial exodus.’”
“The cost of renting and buying can be a daunting figure, and enough to put some people off moving to a location, which is why we thought it would be a good idea to come up with this tool,” Richard Petrie, Thomas Sanderson’s marketing director, said.
“It helps people analyse if it is worth commuting to work instead, and decide what would be best for them in the long run.”
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